


Picking up the Pieces

by Lullabymoon



Category: Taggart - Fandom
Genre: Case Fic, F/M, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-26
Updated: 2012-08-26
Packaged: 2017-11-12 22:44:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 44,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/496480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lullabymoon/pseuds/Lullabymoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Normally it's bad enough investigating a brutal attack, but when the victim is Matt Burke and his life is still hanging in the balance, it's even worse. With things already strained, the case pushes Jackie and Robbie, and their friendship, towards breaking point and beyond. (Some descriptions of violence.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Picking up the Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> Set after the latest series.
> 
> Huge thanks to the awesome Leanstein for the beta.
> 
> For the associated art, please see the awesome [Book Covers, by Peanutbutterer](http://archiveofourown.org/works/485945).

**Friday**

Jackie paused before she stepped into the restaurant. She was technically five minutes late, which was still the closest to on time she'd managed to one of these family events in a long time. 

Susie looked particularly pleased to see her and Jackie kissed her on the cheek, her grin widening all on it's own as she said, "Congratulations. The gown suited you."

Susie beamed back. "Thanks, Jackie."

Kyle wasn't quite so pleased. "How would you know?" She saw the smile dim on Susie's face and didn't rise to the bait. 

"We watched the live stream. Probably got a better view than you." She couldn't resist the small dig though and she sat down and turned towards Dad before she got into a fight and ruined Susie's party.

At least Dad waited until she had said hello to everyone else, no mean feat given it was almost the entirety of the Reid family, before he asked, "We?"

"Robbie, though Burke did keep popping by suspiciously often." Her dad cracked a smile, having met Burke on one occasion that the entire office still joked about. 

"So we'll no be expecting any phone calls to interrupt tonight then?" At least Alan's jest was in good humour.

"No, I've threatened them both with my paperwork for the next month if they interrupt." There were snickers all around the table; most of them had heard her complain about her paperwork at one time or another.

Conversation moved swiftly on to dinner as the menus were handed out and after a heated discussion they finally ordered. The waitresses already looked slightly harassed.

They settled into the usual sort of dinner conversation as they waited for the food to start arriving, mainly the general catching up chit chat that usually accompanied these events but she wasn't above admitting that she used her knowledge of her brothers secrets to wind them up and amuse her nieces and nephews; there were advantages to being the youngest of four siblings.

Dinner itself passed in a blur of laughter and food and she was surprised to see how late it was when she glanced at her watch when they collected their coats. She followed everyone out the restaurant as they made their way to Kyle and Moira's house, everyone meeting there for the party proper. 

She caught a ride in Kyle's car, and sat squeezed in the back row with Susie, catching up with her gossip. She'd deliberately taken a taxi to the restaurant as she knew from previous experience that she would need plenty of alcohol to get through the pitying glances and pointed questions that she would inevitably face from everyone who seemed to think they had the right to interfere. 

She must not have been hiding her annoyance as well as she thought because Susie hugged her arm. 

"I didn't say thank you for coming did I?" 

Jackie laughed it off. "As if I'd miss my favourite niece's graduation do."

Susie grinned. "Should have said thank you for coming despite the torture it'll be!"

They both laughed at that, biting their lips and ducking their head when Kyle glanced back at them in the rear-view mirror. She didn't want to see whatever expression was showing on his face. 

Susie distracted her again. "I'm telling everyone later but I wanted to surprise you." 

Jackie looked properly at her.

Susie grinned. "I heard yesterday that I got onto the Police Graduate Scheme." She looked rather nervous but excited all the same.

Jackie grinned leaned in to hug her, ignoring the pull of the seatbelt as it dug into her shoulder. "That's brilliant! Congratulations!"

Susie looked ecstatic and Jackie gave her another hug, not caring about Kyle and Moira's facial expressions. 

\--

Kyle of course grabbed her pretty much at she took her coat off in one of the spare bedrooms. 

"It's because of you, you know."

She put her coat down on the bed and stood ready for a fight, but she didn't say a word. 

Kyle's shoulders dropped and he sighed. "Sorry, I don't mean to be confrontational, but you're her favourite aunty and she thinks you walk on water." He sat down on the edge of the bed. "It's just she's our wee girl and we want her to be safe and happy."

She sat down beside him. "You said the same thing when I joined the force." 

He snorted. "Aye." He looked down at his feet. 

"You think I'm not happy."

"Jackie,"

"Kyle, I get this every time I come to one of the parties." She tried not to let her voice sound too annoyed, though it was an effort. "Just because I'm not married with kids does not mean I'm not happy."

He looked at her before he sighed. "I suppose. We just worry."

"You can say that again." She sighed as well. "I know but honestly, there isn't a reason to."

Kyle nodded. "How's the promotion going?"

She managed a small laugh. "Apart from the extra paperwork?" She smiled. "It's good."

Kyle smiled. "Good. You know, we never realised how a big deal your promotion was until we saw the numbers in Susie's information pack."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh we knew it was good, but when you see the actual numbers… We're proud of you, you know that."

"God, I'm nearly fifty and yet you still manage to make me sound like a wee girl."

Kyle laughed. "Anyway, we'll through you a party to properly celebrate."  
"Oh god."

"Don't worry, we'll get a load of booze in, invite the team and it'll be a right laugh."

She didn't have time to say how thoroughly a bad idea that was as Moira stuck her head round the door. 

"We thought the pair of you might have killed each other. Come on and join in. Susie's about to make her announcement."

Kyle stood up. "Come on, better do as my better half says. You know what she's like."

"Yeah, you better show me when the gin is first."

Kyle looked amused but guided her to the makeshift bar anyway. 

\--

Susie's announcement had went down better than she expected, though she did get more than a few jibes about setting a bad example. It was nothing more than she normally got about not being settled down and being a workaholic so it wasn't too bad, at least until everyone started chipping in with advice for Susie about how not to follow her lead. 

She'd didn't have enough gin left in her glass to handle that so she left to find the bottle, set up in the bar in the dining room. She snorted to herself as she remembered the text Stuart had sent earlier, jokingly telling her not to get too drunk that Robbie would have to come and pick her up. She'd just sent back an emoticon of sticking out her tongue but it looked like he might have been closer to the mark than she would like to have admitted. 

She was rather surprised to find Dad sitting down on one of the chairs at the table. He noted her look as she poured herself a large G and T, going lighter on the tonic than she would have normally. 

"I'm all right, darling, just not as young as I used to be."

She sat down beside him and took a sip of her drink. He smiled. "Positive, I'm fine. Dinnae you go gein me that look, I'm still your faither."

She smiled as well. "Just you're usually the life and soul of the party."

"Getting old. Needed a break from Joanne." She snorted. "Don't we all?" 

Dad grinned. Joanne was the most overbearing of her sisters-in-law, and that was saying something. Still Dad normally coped with her just fine so she sat quietly until he said more. The tactic usually worked on him. 

"Just missing your mum. That's the last of the grandweans all grown up now and I'm just missing her." He smiled weakly in her direction and took a sip of his lager. 

She tried to ignore the gentle plea behind the last of the grandweans part, surely seven was enough, and squeezed his hand and smiled softly. 

They sat quietly for a minute, listening to the music and laughter drifting through from the living room. Dad broke the silence and she immediately wished he hadn't. "Chris not coming?"

"Dad," she sighed and he looked at her with an innocent expression.

"We broke up a couple of months ago. I know I told you." 

She could remember the phone call clearly, trying to explain that nothing was wrong, they were both just too busy with their jobs and it had simply fizzled down into friendship. 

They still spoke, had the occasional lunch together and to be honest, everyone else took it much worse than either she or Chris had. Burke had let her leave comparatively early for once, and both he and Robbie had taken her to the football that weekend. They'd even bought her a pie at half time. It had been hugely amusing but they so rarely did anything so demonstrative that she had just let them carry on. 

Dad sighed and broke her out of her thoughts. "And Robbie?"

She rolled her eyes. "Dad," She stretched it out. 

He let out a small huff of laughter. "Aye I know." He sighed again and it was starting to make her feel guilty. "I just don't want you to be lonely, love."

She squeezed his hand again. "I know, Dad." The kicker was, she knew he really didn't want her lonely they way he had been ever since Mum died, but that didn't make the almost nagging feel any better. "How can I be lonely with this lot?" She steered the conversation in a different direction and gestured towards the living room. "Unless there's something you're not telling me?"

Dad gave a small chuckle and shook his head." No. It's just a father's job to worry."

"I know." She leaned in close for a hug and they stayed like that for a minute. "Come on," she picked up her drink. "We can go face Joanne together."

Dad snorted but stood anyway. 

\--

Jackie paused from picking up her jacket when her phone started playing the ring tone she had assigned Robbie. She cursed under her breath as she searched through her bag for the phone. 

"This had better be you asking about how the party's going."

There was a pause on the other end and she sighed. So much for wishful thinking. 

"Jackie," Robbie paused and her heart sunk at the lack of sarcastic reply to her greeting. "It's about the Boss." She recognised his tone as the bad news tone he used on relatives and she felt a spike of terror drive through her. "He's in the hospital but he's in a bad way."

"How bad?" Her voice was shaky and her breath caught in her throat.

"It's bad, Jackie." She could hear the terror in his voice now as well and she had to take a calming breath, willing her years of experience on the force to help keep her going. 

"Where are you?"

"The Southern." She nearly dropped the phone.

"They took him straight there?" 

"Aye." She felt like she was going to be sick. Where Burke lived, they would have only taken him straight to the Southern if his head injuries were so severe… she didn't think she could stand upright if she finished that thought.

"I'm on my way."

"Head Injuries Unit, I'll meet you at the front door."

"Okay." She took a deep breath. "What happened?" She asked as she forced herself to finish putting on her coat, transferring the phone to the opposite hand to do so.

"All I know is that it was some sort of beating."

She nodded before she remembered she was on the phone. She heard a car horn out side. "That'll be my taxi. I'll see you shortly." She snapped the phone shut without saying anything else, not worrying about how abrupt it must have seemed. Robbie would understand anyway. 

She headed out to the hall and bumped into Sam. "That's your taxi," Sam trailed off when he saw the look on her face. "Fuck, Jackie, could you no leave it at work for one night?"

"It's Burke, he's been attacked." Funnily enough the familiar complaint about work was enough to put her back into officer mode. "He's been taken to the Southern." 

From the way his expression dropped, Sam understood the implication. "Fuck, aye. I'll let Dad know. You all right to get there?" 

She nodded. "I'll take the taxi and Robbie's meeting me there."

Sam patted her on the arm. "Let us know how he gets on eh? I'll let everyone know in the morning."

She slumped slightly; glad she didn't have to fight anymore. "Thanks." 

Sam drew her into a quick hug and she tried not to fall apart on his shoulder. "Wait here," he said as he vanished into the kitchen and when he returned he pressed a bottle of water into her hands before he saw her into the taxi. 

\--

She couldn't sit still in the taxi, he finger clutched the now empty water bottle and caused it to crinkle, the sound loud in the otherwise quiet cab. The driver had taken one look at her and note of the new destination and he hadn't even tried to banter her into relaxing even slightly. She was grateful for that and she cracked open the window, the noise of the air rushing past as they nipped onto the M8 and over the Kingston bridge a small price to pay for the fresh air on her face. 

Between that and the water and the shock, she felt a lot more sober, though she was still clumsy enough to give away the fact she had been drinking, especially to Robbie.

They pulled off the motorway, the road still quiet at this time of night and drove into the main entrance. 

"Where exactly love?" The driver's words jarred her slightly. 

"Head Injuries Unit, should be down the far end."

The driver dropped her off at the door, and sure enough, Robbie was waiting for her. He stood inside the entrance, just out of reach of the automatic doors as she paid the driver. 

"Hope every thing's all right, love." The driver nodded and she smiled weakly as she put her purse back in her bag. She turned to the door, heard the taxi drive off. Robbie had moved and was now standing under the canopy. He reached out and arm and grabbed her elbow to steady her as she stumbled slightly on the edge of the kerbstone. 

He fussed and she let him have his moment of concern as he needed the distraction as much as she did. She could tell by the way his fingers were flexing that he was dying for a cigarette and given how recently he had quit, it was something of a miracle she couldn't smell smoke on him. 

She paused as the doors opened. "How bad is it really?"

Robbie paused, running a hand through his hair. "He's bleeding everywhere. They've got him in surgery to try and stop some of it."

"Have the doctors said anything else?" She tried not to feel like she was pulling teeth.

"Not really, just that they were worried about his head injury but they needed to get him stabilised first." He pulled her though the door, and it closed behind them, shutting out the cold. "They won't know anything for at least a few hours."

She could feel herself sagging with exhaustion now she was actually here and Robbie still hadn't let go of her elbow. "Where's the waiting room?"

He gestured towards the lift. "I need coffee first."

She nodded and kept pace with him as he walked down the corridor. 

It was crappy vending machine swill but it was better than nothing, especially at this time of night. It had started to cool even as they walked past the nurses' station. The nurse behind the desk nodded at them both and Jackie guessed Robbie had spoken to her earlier as she didn't question her appearance. 

She sat down, rearranging her jacket and taking a sip of the so called coffee before she looked at him. 

He looked completely dishevelled, more so than she had seen him in a while and his face looked tired under the harsh lights of the corridor. 

"What happened?" 

He shook his head. "We don't know yet. Got Mita and Duncan going over his flat."

She couldn't help the snort. "Just as well he's unconscious then."

Robbie grinned weakly. "Yeah." It dropped quickly. "The whole place is a mess, Jackie. He's a mess." He took a deep drink of his coffee, his fingers flexing again. She didn't say anything, she knew him well enough to know he didn't need pushing this time to tell her what her knew. She was right. After another long gulp of his coffee, he carried on. 

"He wasn't answering his phone so I went over to check on him. The door was open and he was lying on the living room floor. He was barely breathing, blood everywhere." He took another sip. "Had the shit beaten out of him but I wasn't too worried until he wouldn't respond to the paramedics' tests. That's when the ambulance diverted. Got checked in with the nurses then phoned Mita, got her in charge of the SOCO team." He slumped in the chair and she did the same, taking in the information. At least he'd managed to say it in the scene he used at crime scenes, it stopped her from collapsing completely. 

She took a couple of deep breaths. "It's probably just as well he's got such a hard head then isn't it. He'll be up and bossing everyone around in a couple of weeks."

She was trying to reassure herself as much as him but she only got a snort from Robbie. When nothing else was forthcoming, she looked at Robbie, properly this time and she could see how much he was struggling. Shit. It only just occurred to her that he'd said Burke wasn't picking up his phone. Robbie hadn't said anything about a new case so the only other reason Robbie would have been phoning Burke at that time of night would be because he was struggling. She saw the way his fingers were still flexing and looking closely she could see they way he had been wound up for more than just an hour. She didn't say anything, just rested her head on Robbie's shoulder. Neither of them had told her anything but she knew that Burke was helping Robbie stay off, well everything really. It was actually quite hilarious and adorable how the pair of them thought they were keeping it secret from her so she had let them keep their illusions. It just made moments like this a pain though. 

As much as Robbie was good at offering comfort, he could be a right pain about accepting it so she felt a brief moment of pleasure when his arm came up about her shoulder and she could feel the way he gripped her tightly. If she had to give comfort by stealth, then that was fine by her. 

The tightness of the hug distracted her anyway. 

She wasn't entirely sure how long they sat like that, long enough anyway for the coffee to grow completely cold and bitter and for her neck to start to cramp. She must have dosed off slightly, despite everything, and the next thing she knew Robbie was moving and she had to sit up right. He looked half asleep himself and she wondered if he had been asleep as well before what the nurse was saying sunk in. 

"They're just closing up now, but the worst of the bleeding is stopped and he's made it this far, which is a very good sign." She paused as they blinked themselves into more awareness. "He'll be taken into recovery once they are finished and onto the high dependency unit after that. Given his injuries, it will be a while before he wakes up and he won't be allowed visitors until sometime this evening."

They were awake enough to understand the underlying message to go home and get some sleep themselves. 

"Thanks," Robbie's voice was hoarse and he gave a pale version of one of his charming smiles. The nurse nodded in response and moved back down the corridor. They creakily untangled themselves from the chairs and stood. 

Jackie looked at Robbie. "Did you drive?" 

He nodded. "I'll give you a lift home."

"I want to see his flat first."

"It's", he looked at his watch, "half two, Jackie, it can wait."

"Robbie," 

He stood straighter, obviously recognising the warning tone in her voice but he still didn't back down. "It's a mess that can wait until the morning." He tried to use his 'I'm the DI here' tone, but she'd long been used to that, even before she'd been promoted. 

"Either way, I'm going to imagine it." 

He sighed and reluctantly nodded. "C'mon then."

\--

They pulled up outside what looked to be a circus, bright lights and people milling about everywhere. No one was going to be unaware that something happened. They ducked under the cordon after the PC standing guard recognised them and walked through the building door, following the noise. 

They paused in front of his main door. Robbie turned to her. "There's blood everywhere in the living room and it looks like there's been a fight." 

He looked at her and she felt annoyance wash over her at the way he was trying to convince her to turn back. She didn't say anything though, just walked in to save herself from snapping at him. 

She paused in the living room doorway. "Shit." She could feel Robbie stop behind her, incredibly close and he put a hand on the small of her back in reassurance. 

There was indeed blood everywhere, sprays on the remains of the coffee table, the couch, the walls, the floor, and a larger puddle in the spot where he must have been lying. There were pieces of the coffee table lying all over the floor, couch cushions completely askew, pictures lying on the floor, glass under foot and generally the room attested to a long and brutal fight.

She took a deep breath, and then another, and took a step into the centre of the room. Duncan looked up from his position in the floor and stood when he recognised her. 

"Jackie,"

She nodded in greeting, not sure if her voice would hold to speak. 

"How is he?" 

"He's come through the surgery okay but they're still worried." She managed to keep her voice even by some miracle.

Duncan frowned and nodded. He saw her continuing look around the room and quickly spoke. "We're collecting all the blood evidence and whatever else we can find. We've found no sign of a weapon yet." 

She nodded again, not entirely sure what to say. 

She was saved by Mita appearing. Mita touched her hand lightly, as if afraid of showing more. She managed a small smile in response.

"Door to door is under way and uniform are canvassing the area for any clues." Mita looked at Duncan, who shook his head. 

"Nothing else yet, just more blood."

Mita turned back to Robbie and Jackie. "The rest of his flat looks virtually undisturbed but we'll get SOCO to check anyway. CS Campbell has been notified and she wants to see both of you at 9am." Mita paused and looked unsure for a second. 

"I can handle supervising here. Why don't the two of you get some sleep?" 

Beside her Robbie snorted and she saw Mita's uncertainty return briefly before she stood a little straighter. "I won't be the one that will need to justify to Campbell why I'm staying on the case."

She couldn't help the small smile at that, especially as Robbie had to concede defeat. It vanished as soon as it came when she turned and saw another spray of blood beside the door. 

They walked out into the hallway and she saw the splintered wood around the lock on the main door, more spots of blood dotting the carpet where it looked like the attack had started. She forced herself to quicken her steps to get past them and the cold air outside was a relief, easing the queasy feeling she hadn't fully been aware of until it was gone. 

The drive to her house was quiet but it was comfortable enough. Robbie dropped her off at her front door, looking exhausted as he said good night. She nodded and on impulse leaned across and kissed him on the check as she gave him a quick cuddle. 

His 'just couldn't resist me' smile was a weak copy of his normal flirtatious grin that she just smiled softly instead of the giving him the normal eye roll. 

"Night, Robbie," she said and she shut the car door. 

She went straight to her bedroom, kicking off her shoes and changing into her pyjamas quickly. She set her alarm and hoped she could get some sleep.

\-- 

**Saturday**

The office was quiet, even the usual constant background hubbub seeming diminished. Jackie dropped her bag onto her desk and double checked the time. 

Eight twenty. Still half an hour to go before she needed to leave for their meeting with Campbell. Robbie wasn't at his desk but she knew he was around, half a roll on sausage sitting beside a cup of coffee on his desk attesting to that. 

She had just picked up the phone to call the hospital when he turned up. 

"I'm just off the phone to the hospital. He's still in surgery but it's going okay so far." She put the phone down again and he sat at his desk, picking up his roll. He paused and said, "Was about to phone Mita but one of yesterdays arrests kicked off downstairs." He bit into his roll and she rolled her eyes as ketchup leaked out onto his desk. 

"Luckily I've had my breakfast." She paused, "Should we be worried that he's still in surgery?"

Robbie shrugged. "The nurse I spoke to seemed quite cheerful about it so I don't think so."

She nodded, she knew what they meant. Over the years they'd all become adept at translating medics tone of voice. She picked up the phone again and dialled Mita. 

Mita answered on the third ring. "Jackie,"

"Just checking in."

"Not much more to report, SOCO are nearly finished processing the flat and door to door is still going on."

"All right. Tell the uniforms to give their reports to me, then go and get some sleep."

"SOCO's not quite finished yet."

Jackie looked at the board. ""Chandler should be arriving soon, go home once he's there. Don't want to see you until this afternoon."

Mita hesitated and Jackie could almost feel Mita's exasperation over the phone. "We'll need at least one pair of fresh eyes this afternoon," she added.

"Okay." 

God, she wished she had Mita's enthusiasm this morning. She hung up and took a long drink of her coffee. What little sleep she had managed last night certainly wasn't enough and she needed the boost, however temporary, before she faced Campbell. 

Robbie looked up at her, roll now finished. 

"You look knackered."

"Thanks, Robbie, I knew I could count on you to make me feel better."

He pulled a face and threw his napkin in the bin. She didn't say anything further: she knew he was right. She'd looked in her mirror this morning as she tried to make herself look presentable and she'd wondered whether the two hours sleep she had managed had been worth it. Besides, Robbie looked as knackered as she did. She sighed and took a sip of coffee. Robbie did the same and they fell silent as they looked through the couple of notes that had been handed in from the door to door search. 

Nothing to report really. Most of the people they had got in touch with had been asleep and couldn't recall anything. She tried not to get too disheartened this early on, there were still plenty of people left to talk to, and they had barely scratched the surface of the case so far. 

She looked at the clock. Quarter to nine. She stretched and stood. She wanted to get this meeting over and done with so they could focus on finding who did this to the Boss. She had a suspicion that Campbell was going to bring up their caseload as a con against them working this case so she did a quick run over of the cases she was currently working. A string of burglaries, two assaults in the West End and one in the City centre, and a few other minor cases that were on the verge of being closed. Nothing that meant she couldn't do this as well. As far as she knew, Robbie was in the same boat, and even with them taking on the Boss' cases, they could prioritise. She would just need to remind Robbie of that in case he started arguing. 

They walked out of the office together and up the stairs. "Just remember, we can work the case load and for God's sake don't start arguing with her."

He had the neck to look annoyed at that. She glared at him but didn't say anything else. They were stopped a couple of times, officers offering condolences and asking how the Boss was. She was beginning to think they should have left the office earlier when finally they arrived at the executive offices. 

Alise, Campbell's secretary, was expecting them. She simply nodded at their arrival and when the intercom sounded, waved them in. 

Campbell was sitting behind her desk but stood as they entered. Campbell gestured to the seats and moved to the sideboard where a coffee pot sat. "Can I get either of you any coffee?"

God, the world really was ending. She and Robbie both shook their heads and Campbell sat down. "I phoned the hospital earlier but what's the latest?"

"He's still in surgery but the nurse was quite cheerful." Robbie spoke. 

Campbell nodded. "Good." Then she was all business. "I think you both know that I don't think that you should be handling this case," Campbell paused, casting an eye over Robbie as he started to tense. Jackie took a step closer to him, just in case. 

"It's been a tough couple of months for everyone," Campbell continued. Robbie took a step forward and Jackie really didn't like where Campbell sounded like she was going with this. She calmed when it appeared Campbell had more sense than to actually mention Robbie's battles with gambling, drink, and sex and instead went with, "and the pair of you have a high enough caseload as it is."

It still wasn't what either of them wanted to hear but Jackie had to put her own thoughts on hold when Robbie started speaking. "All due respect, ma'am," Robbie's voice started to rise and he was standing ready for a fight. Jackie jumped forward and placed a hand on his arm, pulling backwards slightly so he got the hint. 

He did, miracle of miracles, and let her speak, though he still looked like he wanted a fight. 

"We can handle it, ma'am," She didn't drop her grip on Robbie's arm as she stepped forward again to stand beside him properly. "We've got plenty of help and officers are refusing to take it as overtime, so the books will balance." Robbie glanced at her and she remembered she hadn't told him that yet. Still, he relaxed further and she carried on. "We've done this before, when Matt Burke was shot a couple of years ago. We've got a proven track record when it comes to this."

Campbell looked as if she was thinking and Robbie finally relaxed enough for her to feel comfortable dropping her hand. 

Campbell finally nodded. "All right, I'll sign off on it for now but I'll be keeping an eye on everyone." Campbell looked sternly at them both and they nodded at the implication. 

"Thanks." The words sounded grudging from Robbie but Campbell spoke before she could. 

"Don't thank me yet, Inspector Ross," clearly she had heard his tone loud and clear, "I'm putting Jackie down as SIO." Robbie tensed again but she was too busy starting at Campbell to do anything about it.

"She's the one that made the reasoned argument and I'm not going to add to your stress levels any more than this case already has." She raised an eyebrow as if waiting for any more objections. 

Jackie almost sighed in relief when Robbie nodded. 

"All right then, I suggest you get on with the investigation."

Recognising it for the dismissal it was, Jackie nodded and chivvied Robbie out the door before he did anything stupid. 

At least he waited until they were out in the corridor. "I can't believe she wasn't going to let us carry on with the case. Jesus," He stuck his hands in his pockets as he took off down the corridor. "And to say that things were tough enough already." He was on the verge of ranting.

"It's her job, Robbie. It's against every rule in the book to be personally involved in cases."

"That's not stopped anybody before."

"No, but she has to make sure we can handle it."

Robbie scowled. "Why do you always have to be the bloody voice of reason?"

"Because someone has to and it's not likely to be you." It came out terser than she would have liked, but honestly, she was on the verge of wanting to strangle him, a sure record for this time of morning.

He grunted something in disgust and sped up down the corridor. 

She stopped and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She really didn't need to add arguing with Robbie on top of everything else. When she opened her eyes he was no where to be seen and she sighed before she started back to the office without him. 

\--

The office was slightly noisier now that nearly everyone was in. It was a little disconcerting though when everyone quietened down around her, the noise taking a moment or two to build up to it's previous level. Robbie was sitting hunched over his desk as she sat down and he didn't look up as her chair squeaked as she got herself comfy. 

She opened up her email inbox and grimaced when the newest email was from SOCO. She clicked on the email and found herself face to face with a few preview photos from the batch taken early this morning. As she waited for the massive attachment to open, she glanced across at Robbie and saw he had snagged the hard copies of the photos. She sighed and looked around the office. He finally looked up at her. 

"Look, eh, about Campbell's office," 

She shrugged whatever he was going to say off. She knew them both well enough to know that they tended to take things out on each other when things were difficult and it would likely happen more than once more before the case was over. 

Anyway, he'd shrug it off for her as well. 

"Stick the photos up on the board and we'll have a meeting."

"Aye, we need to give this lot something to do other than look sorry at us."

She managed a small smile as he got up and she turned her attention to her monitor, the alert having sounded that the photos were now ready to open. She skimmed through them. The first photos were main overviews of the flat, showing what she had seen last night. A glance showed those were the ones Robbie was pinning up. The rest were close ups of particular bloodstains, furniture remains, every piece of destruction that might be helpful. 

She closed the window; she didn't want to get too bogged down in memory of last night before she gave everyone the run down. If she looked too closely at them just now, she wasn't sure if she would be able to get through the briefing. 

She ran through what she knew of the case so far in her head and finally Robbie stood back from the board and gave her a small nod as he leant against a desk. 

The office slowly quietened as she stood and walked to the main incident board. She was grateful for it actually, saving her from having to grab the attention of everyone. Despite the fact she'd been a DI for a couple of months now, she'd worked with everyone here for long enough that she still had a small twinge of apprehension at the thought of being the one to get them to shut up initially. Still, it wouldn't do to show any sign of weakness in front of them so she launched straight into it. 

"As I'm sure everyone in the force has heard by now, the Boss was attacked last night. He was found at the back of eleven last night in his flat. He had been badly beaten, to the point where he was unconscious when he was found. He was taken to the Southern because of the severity of his head wounds. As of an hour ago, he was still in surgery but the nurses were sounding hopeful." She paused a second or two to let that sink in completely. "As you can see from the crime scene photos, the attack was vicious so we're hoping that anyone out and nearby at that time will have heard or seen something, given how quiet the neighbourhood normally is. Door to door hasn't yielded anything yet but it's still in progress."

"Will it? I mean it was at the back of eleven in the middle of houses?"

It sounded like Dan O'Leary, but given the way everyone was crowded together she couldn't be a hundred percent sure. "Let's try not to scupper the investigation before it starts." There was a little bit of elbow nudging going on, but it died down quickly so she carried on. 

"Given how vicious the attack was, it seems likely that the motive was personal. I want a team checking recent releases of Burke's previous cases,"

"Well we'll no need to worry about his personal life will we?" Someone else called out from the back. George Henderson she determined as he was the only one not trying to hide a smile. She glared at him. 

"Well, we could say the same about you." That shut him up. She caught Robbie trying to hide a smirk and took a deep breath and carried on.

"Check everyone who would be due for release soon as well and make sure of their status. Check his phone records. He didn't mention anything but we need to know if he was contacted by anyone out of the ordinary recently."

"What about CCTV?" Sophie Jenners, one of their more experienced DCs asked. 

"Requests are in for cameras and speed cameras in the area. Mita will go start to go through them when they arrive."

There was a small chuckle and she heard mutterings of 'glad I'm no the new one now.' 

"I also need a team to go through any recent cases that are similar, right across Strathclyde first of all. Another team checking out his neighbours, dig deep in case this is just a case of mistaken identity." She drew a deep breath. "I want initial reports as soon as possible, we need to narrow down the focus." She took another deep breath and nodded sharply.

Everyone took that as their cue to start working and they dispersed to their desks.

Sitting at her own desk, she let the hubbub fade into the background as she had a proper look at the photographs of the flat. She hadn't had a detailed look up until now; last night had been too emotional and raw to look around and she had been too tired to check any of the details. She could feel the horror of it sinking in already, dread and a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, and she had to force herself to breath deeply as she tried to stay focused on the pictures and keep her level head. 

It wasn't working too well. She had to glance away for a moment, looking over to Robbie out of the corner of her eye. He was leaning over one of the techs, seeing if there had been any threats in the Boss' emails. He was focused on the screen but she could see, even from a quick glance, how stiff he was holding himself. He wasn't even trying to look down the tech's top which admittedly wasn't so unusual for him lately but the reminder of how much of a struggle things had been lately wasn't particularly welcome. 

She looked back at the photos, still feeling unsettled but there was nothing else she could do, otherwise she was likely to fall apart and that wasn't something she would let happen. 

Not in the office on front of everyone at least. 

She moved pulled the photos closer, as if that would help somehow. She looked again at the bloodstained carpet, the chaos of the room. It was somewhat easier to believe that this was just an ordinary case when she couldn't see any of the photographs, or any of Burke himself. She turned her trained eye over them, but nothing particularly stood out. It looked exactly like there had been a brutal fight. Everything was over turned or damaged, nothing written on the walls, or missing so far as she could tell, or even placed where it shouldn't. 

She felt helpless for a moment, nothing usable from the pictures other than reinforcing the fact the attack was brutal and likely personal. 

She closed the folder with the photos and pushed them away. She paused from grabbing another folder when Robbie's phone rang and he stood straight when he looked at the screen, holding himself impossibly tighter. She guessed from his reaction it was the hospital though she wasn't so sure she wanted to know when he slumped slightly. 

She felt her hope pick up when he said thanks and hung up. He looked directly at her and smiled slightly. She breathed again, relief coursing through her. He pitched his voice to be heard by others on the office. 

"He made it out of surgery and is now in recovery. Not much else to report at the moment." 

There was a muted sense of jubilation, he'd made it out of surgery but there were still miles to go, and they still had to catch the bastard who'd put him there. 

She forced herself to take another deep breath. She exchanged a smile with Robbie and then he looked back at the emails and she pulled one of the reports closer to her. She flipped it open and started reading. She found herself having to reread the words several times, not taking them in, and she finally give in when they started blurring. 

She rubbed her eyes. She was getting to old to try and function properly on as little sleep as she had and she recognised the feeling of despair washing over her as being made worse by her sleepy state. She closed her eyes briefly. 

She could traipse across the room and get a cup of swill, which might help for a minute or two or she could go around to the wee shop down the street and round the corner. 

She opened her eyes. Outside. The fresh air would help as well and she could grab something that hopefully she could swallow now that she knew Burke's odds had improved greatly. 

She stretched as she stood and debated for a minute whether to grab her coat. A quick check out the window revealed the sky had turned grey since the last check, so on it went. She caught Robbie on the elbow with two fingers as she passed him. "I'm going for coffee. You want a cup?"

He nodded. "An extra sugar than normal." She nodded and left him to it. 

\--

She managed to eat the croissant she'd picked up on the walk back to the station. Not thinking about it, and the fact her stomach rumbled, meant it was easier to eat than the slice of toast she had attempted this morning. She started sipping her coffee, readjusting her grip on the tray that still held Robbie's as she walked back up the street to the back entrance of the station. 

She paused on the back step, the fresher air, and the crowds around her had managed to put the thoughts of the case far enough back that the sense of dread in her stomach was ignorable. Seeing the station brought it back completely and she stopped and leaned against the railing. 

She heard the door open and stood straighter, trying to pretend she wasn't feeling as crap as she was. She took another sip of the coffee, though it tasted like acid going down. 

"I was beginning to think you'd got lost." 

She was grateful for Robbie's tone, though that lasted until she turned and looked at him. Just an act and she could tell how worried he was. She must have been standing there longer than she realised and she felt guilty for worrying him. She held out his coffee cup as she tried to smile. 

"Just trying to catch a bit fresh air before I have to deal with Eau de Police Station again."

He snorted as he took his cup and leaned against the railing beside her.  
"You all right?" He didn't look at her as he asked it.

She sighed and ducked her head, curls bouncing slightly. "I'm just," She shook her head, unable to say anything else. 

He knew what she meant anyway. "Yeah." He took a sip of his coffee. "I'm trying no to piss the nurses of by keep phoning, asking for another update."

"Ruining your cool image is it?" She tried to lighten the mood. 

He saw through her attempt and shrugged it off. They stood quietly drinking their coffee until she spoke up as she stared at the bottom of her cup. 

"You know, I can't help but think George was right."

"About everyone Burke knowing was in the office?"

She nodded. Robbie shrugged again. "He knows other folk."

She gave him the side eye. "How many of them did he not meet through the job?" She sighed again. "Sometimes I wonder if we're turning into him." Robbie snorted. "All right, we have already turned into him."

"Just think of it this way, if anything happens to us, we'll have Glasgow's finest to hunt down whoever did it."

This time, it was Jackie that snorted. "They won't have far to look, it's a good chance it'll be the other one of us that did it."

Robbie laughed, the first true laugh she had heard from him in days, and despite the fact it sounded rusty, she couldn't help but smile. 

It faded quickly though and she found herself looking back down at her coffee cup. Robbie leaned against her and his left arm snuck around her waist. 

"You said it yourself, he'll be up and bossing everyone about in now time." He pulled her closer and she wasn't sure whose benefit his statement was for. 

"Aye," She leaned against him, the clean smell of his suit jacket still a little strange after all these years but it was still a relief to know he hadn’t fallen back on any of his bad habits yet. His hand squeezed where it sat on her waist and suddenly she was glad he was never afraid of giving her a hug when she needed it. 

She heard voices along the corridor towards the door and she straightened. 

"C'mon, I suppose we can't let the rest of them remained unsupervised for much longer."

He nodded and tossed his coffee cup in the bin. 

\--

She stretched in her chair and blinked, letting her eyes rest from seemingly staring at the computer screen for hours. She sipped at a bottle of water to refresh herself. Robbie hadn't found anything in Burke's emails or other messages about any sort of threat and interviewing the higher ups and other officers he spoke to hadn't yielded anything. If he had been in some sort of trouble, he certainly hadn't mentioned it to anyone. 

He wasn't the type generally but he hadn't been acting out of the ordinary either the way he had done previously when something was up. 

She sighed and buckled down to the door to door reports. Robbie grabbed the other half of the stack. She quickly skimmed the list of interviews that had taken place so far, and found that there were still a quite a few outstanding. It was perfectly understandable, par for the course even, but that didn't make her feel any better. She made a note to herself to double check them later this evening, hopefully they would have gotten ahold of nearly everyone by then. 

Any optimism she might have had about the enquiries quickly dimmed. It was report after report of 'didn't hear anything,' 'wasn't aware of anything until I heard the sirens,' and numerous other variations of the same theme. The fingertip search of the nearby area hadn't shown anything either but given this didn't scream spur of the moment to her, so she didn't have her hopes up for anything to magically appear. 

Just when she thought she was going to go bonkers from reading those reports, a sandwich dropped into her vision. She looked up and Mita perched herself on the desk beside her. She doubled checked the time; two pm and felt a jolt of surprise. She managed a quick smile at Mita. 

"Thought you might not have eaten anything." Mita looked around the room. "Any news?" 

"He's out of surgery but still unconscious. The case isn't going brilliantly either." Jackie sighed and opened the sandwich box. "Thanks, by the way." She looked closer at Mita. "Did you manage to get any sleep?"

Mita nodded. "Eventually." She twisted to cast her eyes over Jackie's desk. "I take it the meeting with Campbell went okay?"

"After I held Robbie back from shouting, it went fine." She shared a smirk with Mita. "We're to be on our best behaviour though."

Mita nodded then pushed herself off the desk. "Is the CCTV footage in yet?"

Jackie shook her head. "Not yet."

"I'll go and give them a prod so I can review it."

Jackie smiled. "Thanks, Mita."

Mita smiled and moved off. 

Jackie slumped in her chair again and pulled out a triangle of the sandwich. She didn't do anything else as she ate, letting her brain relax for five minutes. 

Feeling refreshed she checked with Stephens how far back he had gone through Burke's previous cases and grabbed another bundle off him. 

She went through a handful, jotting down the details of men sent to Barlinnie and phoned through to the prison. She tapped her pen aimlessly as she waited on hold, the tapping slowing when she finally got through. 

The warden on the other end was gruff, only a little more helpful when he realised why she was asking. 

Information jotted down, Robbie grabbed the sheet off her.

Before she could do more than raise an eyebrow at him, he said, "I'll check these out." 

She could tell by his stance he was going stir crazy inside and decided it was best to leave him too it. 

Stephens looked over at her. "Why did you check the ones that were still inside?"

She could have throttled him then and there. "Because we learned the hard way that records can be out of date."

She could hear herself sound snippy as she said it, but then even after ten years, Michael's death still hurt occasionally. 

"Oh, sorry." Stephens looked shamefaced and started going through his bundle again, obviously going back to double check.

She sighed and decided it wasn't worth apologising; she'd mentioned earlier to double check the status of everyone they were checking up on. She made a mental note to pair him up with someone more experienced, at least for the rest of this case. She turned back to her list and tried not to get too frustrated. 

She checked another batch, digging deeper into the files and it was somewhat disheartening to discover they were only about six months back. 

They had a whole careers worth to go through, unless there was some miracle of a break through on CCTV. 

She sighed. She'd better check on Mita, though she was sure Mita would have phoned by now if she had found anything. She walked out into the corridor to stop by the coffee machine first and was greeted by the sight of a grey sky. 

"Typical." She muttered under her breath. There wasn't even a bit of sunshine to cheer them up a bit. 

She found Mita slumped in a chair in front of the screen. She put down a coffee in front of Mita as she leaned beside her. 

"Any luck yet?"

Mita shook her head and took a sip of the coffee. She pulled a face. "I really should be used to this by now."

Jackie managed a small huff of laughter. "Believe me, it's worrying if you do."

Mita smiled and put the cup down, back to business. "There aren't a lot of cameras in the immediate area but I've been working backwards from the time Robbie found him on the camera at the end of the street." She bit her lip. "There is nothing out of the ordinary but if it was planned enough,"

"Then they could have tried to blend in." Jackie finished and sighed. "Just keep an eye out for anything suspicious, with any luck we'll have a better time frame shortly. Did you get nearby traffic camera footage as well?"

Mita nodded. "And the speed camera footage nearby just in case." She looked a little bewildered at being asked. 

"Sorry," Jackie gave an annoyed smile. "Just discovered one of the DC's still can't listen to instructions."

"Ouch." Mita sympathised and Jackie huffed a laugh. 

"I'll leave you to it."

Mita nodded and pressed play.

\--

Stephens was on the phone when she came back into the main office, and she swerved to avoid him before she started thinking about the case that lead to Michael's death again. 

Too late. The coffee seemed to lie heavily in her stomach and she felt sick. 

She wasn't sure how they would cope if they lost Burke as well. She clamped down on the thought and she tried to stay focused on the here and now. She wandered over to the crime scene photos again, hoping that if she focused long enough, something would jump out at her. It had worked in the past and it might allow her the distance to treat this like any other case. 

She perched herself on the edge of a desk near the board, thankfully empty at the moment, and stared at the photos. She lost herself in them, trusting that someone would grab her attention if there was anything new to report.

She looked away when she felt the desk shift slightly as Robbie sat beside her. She felt a jolt that he was back already and checked her watch. It was nearly six already. That was the second time she'd gotten distracted and she cursed in her head. The lack of sleep was catching up with her clearly. He didn't say anything though as he looked ahead, just shook his head at his enquiring look. No viable suspects yet then. 

They sat quietly for a couple of minutes, ignoring the rest of the office. Robbie suddenly straightened and she turned eagerly towards him to see what he had spotted. 

"Has anyone phoned Stephen?"

She slumped again but carried on looking at him. "I know we didn't but I have no idea about the hospital." She frowned. "I'll check."

It only took a minute to phone the ward and check with the new duty nurse. 

"They didn't check next of kin since we were there."

Quite aside from the fact that they were just about his next of kin, it was a rather shocking breech of protocol, though Robbie just snorted when she said that out loud. 

"We should phone him," Robbie said instead.

"Why?"

"Because he's his son." Robbie was looking at her like she was stupid and she could feel her temper rise to the surface. 

"Who hasn't spoken to him in years."

"That's not the point," his tone changed and he was on the verge of shouting the last word. 

Jackie tensed, on the verge of snapping back but half the office had turned to look at them. "Has Burke said anything to you about him?" She forced herself to talk quietly.

Robbie lowered his voice as well. "No, but,"

"Well exactly."

She looked back at the board, not wanting to carry on in case she did actually snap. It was the last thing she needed. 

"But he's his son," Robbie clearly wasn't going to let it go.

"Who wants nothing to do with Burke." It came out harsher than she intended, rather louder too and she almost instantly regretted it when she Robbie's face. 

"And what would you know about it?" Robbie went from angry to livid and if the next words out his mouth had anything to do with her childlessness, she was going to join him. "It's not like you have kids."

She clenched her fists and yeah, she was about to snap. She stood instead; hands still clenched by her side and she bit the inside of her cheek so she didn't say anything. 

He grabbed her arm as she stepped past him and she angrily shook him off. She managed, "Not now, Robbie," through clenched teeth, and strode away quickly. 

The few officers who were in her way scattered and she ignored their enquiring glances. She pretended she couldn't hear the whispers start up as she let the doors swing shut, pushing them hard enough that she could still hear them swinging halfway down the corridor. 

She made it to the ladies and mercifully there was no one at the sinks as she slammed a cubicle door shut. She slid the lock across with more force than was necessary. 

She leaned forward, her forehead resting against the cool plastic and she slumped, hands clenched at her side as she tried desperately not to let out a sob. 

It didn't work and the sound reverberated around the quiet toilets. She unclenched a fist and slapped it over her mouth, mortified at not being able to contain it. She stumbled backwards, falling onto the side wall and sliding along it. She reached out blindly with her other hand and pulled the toilet lid down, sliding down until she was low enough to sit down.

She kept her mouth covered as her eyes watered and she willed herself not to start crying. Not here, not at work, especially not when there was still so much to do and Burke's condition was still up in the air. 

She screwed her eyes tightly shut to stop any teas escaping and in her head she started to run through a list of things that needed to be done. It was barely working, though she did manage to distract herself long enough that her eyes stopped watering at least. 

She opened her eyes and lowered her hand. She still felt on edge though and she dabbed at her face with a square of toilet roll. Just as well that she hadn't bothered with mascara this morning. She almost laughed hysterically that that was the first thought to run through her head. 

She shredded the piece of paper as a distraction, feeling almost drained they way she always did after crying. It took another couple of minutes, and another square of paper, before she felt calm enough to get up though she tried not to think what she looked like. Hopefully she had warded the crying jag off in time to stop her face going splotchy and puffy. 

She was just about to get up when she startled, her phone ringing in her blazer pocket. She'd forgotten it was in there and she dug it out so she could silence it as it was still new enough that she couldn't find the button otherwise. 

She caught sight of the caller I.D. and muttered a curse. 

Stuart. 

They hadn't told him yet. They'd agreed last night to tell him tonight after his big day in court. She sniffed and cleared her throat and hit accept. She plastered a big smile on her face, trying to sound cheerful. 

"Stuart." She was rather proud that her voice didn't wobble. "How was court?"

"We got what we wanted." He paused. "What's wrong?"

Damn, he'd picked up on it anyway. "It's Burke. He was attacked last night but he's doing okay."

"Jeez, Jackie," She could hear his intake of breath. "How bad is it?"

"He's still unconscious and he had to have surgery to stop the bleeding."

"When were you going to tell me?" He sounded accusing and it was the last thing she needed. She screwed up her eyes again and when she spoke her voice was thick. 

"After you got back from court today. We didn't want this screwing up it as well."

He was silent for a minute, and she almost had to check the call hadn't disconnected. She could tell the minute he forgave her though. "What else is wrong? You sound like you're in the loos."

She couldn't help but laugh at that and she wiped her face with another bit of toilet roll. "You know what me and Robbie are like."

Stuart snorted. "What happened this time?"

"Just a couple of stupid remarks. It'll be fine once the stress blows over." 

"You sure? I know things have been rough lately."

She sighed. "We're just missing your calming influence."

He snorted again and there was a comfortable silence. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"We'll be fine. We just need some time apart every so often."

Stuart laughed then they both grew serious. "I wish I could help but,"

"I know, you don't have to tell us about caseloads. Besides, I think Campbell would have kittens at the thought of you coming all the way from Edinburgh." She smiled at the thought and she could practically hear Stuart's grin. "Listen, I'll let you get away and celebrate and I'll go hunt Robbie down."

"Okay, just try not to kill him." He pleaded. "And I'll text you later."

"Bye,"

"Bye,"

She hung up and slipped the phone back into her pocket, feeling a little saner after their conversation. She took a deep breath and left the cubicle and thankfully the rest of the loos were still empty. She glanced in the mirror and sighed. She leaned against the sink for a minute, gathering her energy. After giving her face a quick wipe with a damp bit of paper towel, she felt ready enough to go and find Robbie. 

She didn't have a clue what to say to him though. 

It was typical of course, that he was standing outside waiting for her. She startled when she nearly walked into him and she immediately felt her hackles rise. 

She took in his posture though before she said anything and the sight of him slumped against the wall, hair ruffled where he'd obviously been running his hands through it, and his tie now sitting askew, relaxed her slightly. He clearly wasn't there to carry on fighting. 

"I'm sorry."

She bit her lip, barely resisting the urge to say 'so you should be'. Instead she nodded in acceptance of his apology, the movement sharp enough to get across that she was still upset. He knew her well enough to pick up on that and he started speaking again. 

"I am sorry, Jackie." He ran a hand over the back of his neck, as he shuffled slightly, then stuck his hands in his pockets. "It's just been hard enough lately, staying off everything, without this happening and," he stopped as a couple of uniformed officers entered the corridor. He lowered his voice, "I've no really spoken to Jamie in a while." He hunched his shoulders and while the sting from his words was still there, she could appreciate that this was one of those occasions where he was being completely honest with her. 

She sighed and slumped back against the wall beside him. "Robbie,"

He didn't let her get any further. "I know it's not an excuse for what I said," he pulled his hand out his pocket and stopped, hovering in mid-air like he wanted to touch her arm reassuringly but he decided against it. She was somewhat glad, even if the warmth would have been reassuring. 

"It's just, despite everything with him, I'd want someone to tell Jamie."  
She thought about that for a minute then nodded. "Okay, but you'll need to find his phone number." 

Robbie nodded in understanding of what she didn't say out loud and pushed himself off the wall. His shoulders were slumped as he walked back towards the office and she felt a little mean for making him make the call. 

She sighed again and almost shouted down the corridor after him but thought better of it. When Burke woke up, Robbie could pull the absent father's club card and get away with it. If she phoned, it would more than likely be the cold shoulder and all the crappy jobs for god knows how long. 

Robbie paused and she took that as he was waiting for her to catch up. She resisted the urge to sigh again. Whether or not he was trusting her to catch up, or simply hoping, she wasn't entirely sure but she thought it best to start walking anyway. When she finally did catch up, he spoke again. 

"Look, I'll go in and get us something to eat. Could you phone the hospital, see how he's getting on."

She nodded. "Get us some decent coffee while you at it."

He gave a small smile and she wasn't entirely sure how to feel as he walked off in the opposite direction. 

\--

She couldn't help but roll her eyes as Robbie walked back in with pizza boxes. Typical of him really. He looked at her questioningly as he slid the top box in her direction and placed a tall cup of coffee in front of her. 

"He's still unconscious but he's out of recovery and he's stable enough for SOCO to get in."

"Great." He sat down with his pizza box. "I popped in to Mita, gave her dinner and told her to take a break or she'll get square eyes." 

She rolled her eyes again. Typical Robbie-speak. "Did she find anything?" She doubted it but asked anyway. 

Robbie shook his head in disgust. "Nah. Doubt SOCO will either with all the contamination."

"That's why they take elimination samples from the staff." She stopped eating and looked at him. He wasn't usually this cynical about forensic evidence. He waved off her look with a slice of pizza still in his hand and she had to smile as he dripped cheese onto his desk. 

He swore under his breath. "Just grumpy." He admitted after he'd cleaned the cheese up. 

"I never would have noticed." He rolled his eyes at her and they ate the rest of their pizza in silence. 

\--

She swallowed the last of her coffee and rummaged in her top drawer for her packet of gum. The last thing she needed was to reek of coffee and onions the rest of the night. She offered a bit to Robbie and turned back to her computer. 

She sighed, seemingly for the umpteenth time. There had been nothing new in the fifteen minutes since she had last checked and she felt as if staring at the screen for any longer was going to make her scream. She glanced down to her notebook and remembered her words to Campbell this morning. She realised she'd better check on her some of her other cases. 

She made a few phone enquiries, mainly checking alibis for the lead suspects in one of her burglary cases. One or two promising leads but when she looked up from her notes, Robbie was looking at her funny. 

"What you working on?" His voice was accusing and she was fed up of his attitude. 

"My burglaries." She snapped and he looked at her in disbelief. 

"At a time like this?"

"Would you rather I went demented waiting for the forensic report?" She stared back at him, not bothering to disguise her annoyance. 

He deflated. "Aye, I suppose."

"Thanks for your blessing. It's just what I needed." She regretted it as soon as she said it. She closed her eyes to calm herself. 

"Sorry." When she opened them, Robbie shifted uncomfortably. 

"It's fine. We're just," he threw his coffee cup in the bin. "Usually we'd have been out all day, interviewing family and friends and we wouldn't be picking at each other."

She huffed slightly and relaxed into her chair. "Yeah."

His phone rang before they said anything else and it was back to work. 

Twenty minutes later, she threw her pen down in frustration and rubbed her face. She couldn't focus long enough on the other case to manage anything and it was beginning to get to her. To top it off, a glance out the windows showed it was now raining and it might well have been night for all the light there were getting. She looked at her watch and realised it was after nine. No wonder she was frustrated. She'd barely been out the building in twelve hours. 

It was another bad sign that she didn't realise Robbie had gotten up until he sat beside her. She spun her chair until her knees bashed into his legs and looked up at him. She appreciated the warmth where their bodies met, though she would rather he didn't look so bloody concerned. 

"I'm fine, just," She smiled wryly at the same reassurance she had used earlier. He gave a slight grin at that as well. 

"I can't concentrate on any of my cases either." He looked at the window. "At least the rain is putting me off from going outside for a light."

She snorted. "Glad to hear the Scottish summer is good for someone."

He snorted but she didn't say anything else as she spotted Duncan enter the office with what looked like a report in his hand. Robbie quickly turned around to see what she was looking at. 

"Duncan,"

"Jackie." He held up the envelope he was carrying. "I've started processing the evidence collected off Burke," he swallowed, "it'll be at least tomorrow afternoon before the prelim results start coming in but I've brought the photographs." He handed them to her. 

"Thanks, Duncan." She managed a smile and Duncan looked a little uncomfortable.

"How is the investigation going so far?"

Robbie sighed and answered as she took the photographs out the envelope. "Not well. Nobody saw anything, nobody heard anything and half the country could have a grudge against him."

Duncan nodded in appreciation of the difficulties. "I'll try and hurry the prelim results but," he grimaced.

Jackie nodded. "There isn't anything you can do faster without compromising the results."

"Yeah." He looked around the room at the boards of pictures, frowning a little. He shook himself out of it. "Right, I'll leave you to it." He gave a small smile of encouragement and quickly left. 

They both turned back around to her desk and ignored the expectant quietening of the office as they spread the photos out. Robbie stayed perched beside her as they stared at the photos.

She felt the coffee and pizza start to churn in her stomach as she saw the full extent of his injuries. Neither of them spoke as the violence, the brutality of the attack hit them fully. She'd known from the state of the flat that things had been bad but this, this was unbelievable. The photos still showed him on the ventilator, tubes sticking out his arms and there were very few spots on his body that didn't show signs of bruising. Boot prints, knuckle marks, punches, scratches where he went through his coffee table. 

She had to look away before she was sick. 

It had been a long while since she had seen someone survive something so brutal and the fact she knew it was Burke, even though his features were so distorted you could hardly make them out, meant that the thin layer of professionalism that normally made the job bearable was ineffective. 

She took a couple of deep breaths, dimly aware of whispers building up around her, starting to hear speculation about how bad it was from the other officers in the room. She managed to look at Robbie. 

His face was as pale as she'd ever seen it and it looked like he was trying not to be sick as well. He finally looked back at her. 

"Jesus, I never realised how bad it was last night. I mean I knew, but I never saw," he tailed off and he slipped off her desk, turning back around and bracing his hands on the edge as he stared back at the photos. 

She couldn't look again, not just yet anyway. She heard someone approach them and she wasn't sure if she could answer any of their questions just yet. She steeled herself and blindly grabbed one of the shots, heading in the direction of one taken from the bottom of the bed and showing the full extent of Burke's injuries. 

She quickly glanced to check it was the right one, then she pushed her chair back and slowly walked over to the board, her muscles protesting after having been sitting in one position for such a while. She gently stuck the photo next to Burke's name and made her way back to her desk. She didn't look at anyone, didn't have to as she heard the whispering stop. 

It was rare that there was true quiet in the office but as everyone realised what she had put up, there wasn't a sound. It was quickly broken by various degrees of cursing as people looked closely at the photo. It was something of a relief that she wasn't the only officer, who despite seeing just about everything there was to see in this job, was still sickened by it. 

She sat back down and managed to look at the photos again. She finally managed to regain her voice. "This has to be personal." She had to clear her throat before the words came out clearly. "There's no evidence they were after anything and for all this," she couldn't say any more. 

Robbie nodded. "Aye, I've only seen injuries like this when folk are trying to kill each other." He quietened. "It's too brutal to be getting a message across." 

She mentally acknowledged his personal experience there but felt guilty about the thought a minute later. "Are you sure there's been no threats?" Something like this didn't usually come out of the blue.

Robbie shook his head. "Nothing. We've checked his phone and post as well and he definitely didn't say anything to the higher ups."

She sighed again. "No, he wouldn't."

They stared at the pictures and she found herself staring at one photo of his neck in particular. She picked it up to have a closer look. "Robbie," she looked closer at it. "Does that mark look familiar to you?" She could have sworn she had seen it before. It looked exactly like a hand print, but slightly larger and the bruises were more uniform. 

Suddenly it dawned on her. A glove lined with something heavy to knock someone out. They'd only seen it once before. 

"The Secord case," Robbie spoke at the same time as she did and they shared a quick grin. 

"Aye, Burke recognised the loaded glove from one of his London cases." 

"I don't think he ever said which one." She looked at the time. "Shit, records will be closed." She smiled slightly when she remembered Burke still kept hard copies of his reports in his office.

She stood and strode across to his office and opened the fortunately still unlocked door. She flicked the light on as she entered and headed straight for his desk. She reached under and pulled the key off its hook at the back of the drawers. 

She turned round and bumped into Robbie. He looked surprised. "You know where the key is?"

Jackie rolled her eyes and unlocked the filing cabinet. She opened the drawer labelled with the right year and began rifling through the files. She let out a small smile when she found the right report and she perched on the edge of his desk as she started to skim through it. Robbie stared over her shoulder. 

"You're not helping." He grudgingly took a step backwards and she managed to make her way through the rest of it. 

"Well?"

She shook her head. "He just says he recognised the mark from a previous case."

"Bugger." 

She was in perfect agreement. She shut the report and slammed the drawer closed, the noise rather louder than she intended. She took a calming breath. "We'll need to speak to whoever he was working with in London, see if they can remember the case."

"Which will have to wait till the morning because records are closed." He stormed out the office in frustration. 

She locked the cabinet and replaced the key before she followed him. 

She stuck a post-it note reminding herself to phone first thing on her monitor and sat down. She dropped her chin onto her hand and slumped. She felt completely drained. She looked across at Robbie and he looked as bad as she felt, his fingers tapping across the desk the way he did when he was dying for a cigarette. She glanced at her inbox again, all recent emails about other cases, the text starting to blur, even after she blinked 

She hated to admit it, but it really was time to call it a night. There was nothing else she could personally do just now and a fresh set of eyes in the morning would do a world of good. 

It just felt like admitting defeat. She forced herself to get up and did a quick circuit of the room, checking on progress. 

Nothing tangible and that only added to the hopeless feeling. 

It was easier to remind everyone else to catch some sleep and keep themselves sharp, though Mita was the only one who called her on it, even then only with a raised eyebrow. 

She circled back to her desk and Robbie nodded. She glanced out the window to see it was till raining and grabbed her coat. Robbie walked with her out to the door, in an awkward silence. The anger from earlier was still lingering, especially now they were out the office. 

Fortunately it was still chucking it down with rain and all she said was "see you in the morning" before she dashed out to her car. Driving home, she had to concentrate to see clearly enough and that was enough to keep her mind off the case at least for the length of time it took for her to draw into her parking space.

She locked the door behind her and dropped her keys in the dish before she slid her wet coat off with a grimace. She bent down to pick up the post that had arrived after she had left that morning and wandered through to the living room. Seeing it was just a circular and some junk, she dumped it on the couch beside her bag. She wandered through to the kitchen, hitting play on her answering machine in her way, and pulled out the open bottle of wine from her fridge. 

She could hear Susie's voice speak out as she poured. 

"Hey, Jackie, just calling to see how Burke is. I know you probably won't get this for a day or so, so just ring us back when you can eh? Love you."

She put the glass down from where she had raised it to take a sip. Susie again proving why she was her not so secret favourite niece. She glanced across at the cooker clock. It was after midnight, far too late to call back. She'd have to do it first thing in the morning. She grabbed her wineglass and took it through with her into the living room. She set a reminder in her phone before she sat down, otherwise she would get too caught up in things and completely forget. 

She turned the TV on, some random crap she really had no interest in but it livened up the flat. She kicked off her shoes and curled up on the couch. She stared into her glass after she took a long drink. It was weird to think that even six months ago, she would have been in the pub with Robbie and Stuart, probably Burke as well, having this drink and decompressing in the middle of a case. 

She knew that for the most part, it was better this way but it didn't stop her wishing that she wasn't alone drinking on her couch.

\--

**Sunday**

Thank God she'd remembered to set her alarm last night as she was tired enough that she would have more than likely slept in otherwise. It was almost a battle to get out of bed and she groaned when she realised she'd forgotten to put her pyjama bottoms on before she'd crawled into bed. She'd only had the one glass but she had been tired enough and uptight enough that she'd forgotten completely. To top it off, she could feel a low grade headache starting. 

No doubt it was from the lack of proper sleep, too much stress and too much coffee so there was nothing she could do just now apart from take a couple of paracetamol with her toast. 

She was already out the door when her phone beeped it's reminder to phone Susie. She called on her headset as she drove to work in a light drizzle.

It wasn't until Susie answered half asleep that she remembered that she had only just graduated and would be having a lie in. 

"Sorry, Susie, I completely forgot you'd still be asleep."

"S'alright, just give me a sec." She could hear rustling on the other end. "I'm awake now. How is he? Dad didn't say much."

This was the part she was dreading, the part where she couldn't just pretend it was an ordinary case. "He's stable just now, but the attack was," she wasn't sure what the best word to use. "Bad," which sounded weak even as she said it but Susie seemed to understand anyway. 

"How's the case going?"

She sighed. "As of last night, not brilliant. I'm just on my way in."

"Are you all right?" Susie sounded concerned. 

She tried to wave it off. "Just too much coffee, not enough sleep. I'll be fine once it's over." And it was true, assuming Burke woke up and recovered, she probably would be. If they managed to catch the bastard anyway. She tried not to think like that and changed the subject deliberately.

"Enjoying your last weeks of freedom?"

Susie groaned but went with it anyway. "I've only just finished with uni."

"Well you can't say you didn't know what you were getting into." She managed a small chuckle.

"Aye, aye." Susie sighed as the traffic light turned green and Jackie started off again. "I'm going to go back to sleep so go and get whoever eh? Just mind and eat something."

"Yes, Mum." 

Susie laughed. "Love you."

"Love you too."

She hung up and immediately dialled the ward. By the nurse's barely hidden exasperation, she wasn't the first to phone that morning. They really should have organised a rota. It was a relief to hear that while he was still unconscious, he had been stable overnight. She hung up just as she managed to get parked not too far from the station. 

She checked her watch as she stopped off at her desk. It was still a little too early to call the Met's records division so she went in search of her second cup of coffee of the day. 

Robbie was already there when she walked into the small kitchen and he looked even worse than she did, though he didn't smell of alcohol when she brushed past him to get to the kettle. 

He nodded a greeting over the brim of his own coffee cup. She slouched beside him as she waited for the kettle to boil. The silence was comfortable, and tired. She didn't have to wait long for the kettle to click off and she let her coffee cool for a minute to avoid scalding her tongue again like she had already done this morning. 

"I take it you phoned the hospital as well?" 

She turned her head to look at him and smiled slightly. "Yeah. Think the nurses are getting sick of us. You'll need to work you're charm on them."

He snorted. "Think I left it at home this morning." He gave a wry smile and took another sip of his coffee. 

She knew that was as close as he would come to admitting how bad things had been for him last night unless she pushed but it wasn't worth the fallout, not when she could see it in the way he stood. 

She blew across her cup then tried the coffee. Still a touch too hot but the heat was nice in her hands. "Did I tell you Susie got into the graduate scheme?"

Robbie turned. "No," He smiled. "That's brilliant. Taking after her favourite aunt after all."

It was her turn to snort. "Yeah. Though she's developed my timing as well." She could feel the question Robbie didn't ask. "She announced it at her party."

She could feel Robbie wince beside her. "I take it it didn't go well for you?"

"I got the evil eye for the rest of the night."

Robbie chuckled and it was a relief to hear the genuine tone of it. 

She managed a sip now that her coffee was cool enough and she glanced at her watch again. 

"C'mon. Records should be open."

\--

It took a while on hold to get through, it seemed the world and its mother was trying to get records at the same time. She finally slammed the phone down. 

Robbie looked at her questioningly. 

"They're not going to send all his records up for the cases he worked there, apparently it would take too long and be against procedure." She blew out a breath and forced her shoulders to relax. "They did give me the last known contact details for his former sergeant to help narrow things down. We're welcome to phone back then." The last was said in a fake polite tone. 

Robbie held out his hand. "I'll phone."

She nodded and handed over the number. She drained the last of her coffee as Robbie dialled and she watched him as she tried to let her frustration die away. 

He looked rougher than yesterday, clearly hadn't slept, but he was wearing fresh clothes and didn't smell particularly suspicious. She hated thinking that way but as worried as she was about Burke, she was worried about Robbie. 

She jolted out of her thoughts when he put the phone down. 

"Answering machine, but at least it's the right number." He looked as disappointed as she felt. She felt deflated, she hadn't realised quite how much she had pinned her hopes on getting the information quickly and pushing the case forward. 

She resisted the urge to slump, barely, and put her hand on her phone. "I'll check what Duncan's found," she didn't get any further as CS Campbell walked into the office. The room suddenly became quieter as everyone went on their best behaviour. It was automatic when one of the top corridor came downstairs, even if they weren't doing anything they weren't supposed to. 

It was a surprise to see her down here quite so early, especially on a Sunday, but given the rumours going around about the new force, she probably didn't have much spare time. 

"Inspector Reid, a word." Jackie jumped up from her desk, and it felt like she was a school kid again, being called to the Rector's office. She shared a look with Robbie before she followed Campbell into Burke's office. She could feel the stares of half the office at her back as she closed the door. 

Campbell was still standing, obviously keeping the meeting formal. "What's the progress so far?" 

Jackie took a deep breath and tried to put a brave face on things. "Door to door and CCTV searches are still on going but have yielded nothing yet. We might have a lead though from one of Burke's cases from London." Campbell raised an eyebrow and Jackie carried on.

"One of the bruises is a fairly uniform hand-print. We worked a case a couple of years ago where Burke remembered seeing the same in a case down in London. We're trying to get the records now."

Campbell looked sceptical. "Is that the best lead?" 

Jackie nodded reluctantly. "Given the severity, the attack seems personal. We're going through his files since he moved back to see if anyone was released recently that would have a motive for attacking him but nothing so far."

"And given his family is the Job," Campbell trailed off, and then nodded. "All right. Too early for forensics yet?" 

Jackie nodded again. "We're just about to check if there are any preliminary results back yet." 

Campbell nodded again and perched herself on the desk. She folded her hands in her lap. "And how are you and Robbie coping?" 

Jackie wasn't surprised at the question, not after yesterday's meeting anyway. "We're a bit stressed, Ma'am, but we're coping."

"Really?" Campbell gave her a pointed look. "I heard there was a bit of a stooshie last night." 

Jackie managed not to sigh. "Just a bit of frustration at the lack of progress bubbling over. We've had much worse." She managed a tight smile, maybe they had had worse fights in the past in the office, but the words certainly hadn't been as personal. 

Campbell looked at her for a long minute. "All right, Jackie." She stood up. ""But I'll be keeping my ears open." Campbell walked back to the door, and just as she was about to turn the handle, she paused and looked back at Jackie. "Be careful." Her tone was the most sympathetic it had been but the trace quickly vanished as Campbell walked into the main office again. "I want a progress report on my desk by the end of the day." 

Jackie nodded as she shut the door to Burke's office behind her. Campbell strode off out into the corridor and the noise level in the office jumped again. 

She sat back down at her desk and Robbie looked at her. 

"What was that all about?"

"She wanted a progress report and to check that we weren't going to go off the deep end." 

Robbie groaned. 

"Yeah, she heard we had a stooshie last night." Robbie looked guilty at that.

In true Robbie fashion, he moved on. "Checked on the door to door results again, still nothing."

She nodded. "I'll see if I can get Duncan this time." 

She picked up the phone for what felt like the umpteenth time this morning and dialled the lab. 

Duncan answered on the third ring. "Jackie, I was just about to call you."

"Good news then?" 

"Unfortunately not. The blood typing results so far show that all the blood has the same type as Burke's."

"And DNA?" 

Duncan gave a small laugh. "You know better than that."

"Aye, well I can live in hope." 

"Well, the first results should start coming in tomorrow so there might be more luck then."

"Yeah, yeah."

"I hate to be the bearer of more bad news but," He hesitated.

"Go on, I'm not going to bite."

She heard him give a huff of laughter. "I've looked at the hairs under the microscope and they are all consistent with Burke's. I expect DNA will confirm that in a couple of days time."

"Damn. What about prints?"

"Well that's the trifecta. According to the expect, the ones analysed so far are also Burke's, though there are quite a few glove prints as well, so it doesn't appear hopeful to get a finger print I.D."

She sighed. "All right."

"How is he?"

"Stable, that's what the nurses keep saying."

"Well, he has got a hard head."

She managed a snort of laughter. "Aye, he has. Thanks, Duncan."

"I'll phone you once more of the results are in."

She slammed the phone down with more force than necessary and Robbie looked up from his paperwork. 

"Not good then?"

She shook her head. "Everything so far is consistent with Burke. Whoever it was seems to have a good idea about forensics." 

Robbie nodded. "Fits with the assumption that it was someone Burke put away."

"And that they planned it. Not just a spur of the moment thing." She looked at her desk then smiled. "When did you become the optimistic one?"

He smiled.

\--

The bounce in their mood didn't last long. They got bogged down in paperwork, checking seemingly endless dead ends and after one snipe too many, she found herself heading towards the kitchen in search of her fourth cup of coffee. 

She was staring out the window, it had turned into a lovely sunny day outside, and trying to let go of her frustration before she went back to her desk. She nearly jumped when Robbie appeared beside her. 

"I'm sorry," He started.

"I know." She cut him off. "I am too. Just bloody sick of apologising."

That came out the wrong way. She closed her eyes for a second to avoid looking at him. "I mean I'm sick of being so wound up that we're just," she shrugged. 

"Aye." He knew what she meant anyway.

She sighed and looked at the coffee cup. She was rapidly approaching the stage in the investigation where she was sick of the sight of coffee. She heard bells in the distance and realised that it was lunchtime. The lack of food probably wasn't helping matters.

"Come on, we'll go and grab a sandwich. I'm sure the sun will do us the world of good."

He snorted. "I think it's going to take more than a bit of sunshine."

She bit her cheek to avoid starting another word match and rinsed her cup out. "I'll just go and grab my purse."

She didn't wait to see if he followed. 

\--

In the end he joined her and they managed twenty whole minutes without a cross word. 

She arrived back at her desk and looked at the clock. She really should pop in and see Mita, even if it was just to remind her that they hadn't forgotten about her. 

"Ma'am?" She turned around to discover Alan Turner, the newest DC, smiling at her. 

"Good news I hope." His happiness was contagious, though it dimmed a little when he next spoke. 

"Not about the DCI's case, Ma'am, but I've just had a phone call from Lizzie Jones about her boyfriend's alibi for the last two burglaries."

"Oh?"

"It's seems they've broken up now and she doesn't want to risk him getting custody of the kids."

"Charming." She grabbed her handbag. "Right, let's interview her again then." 

"You're heading out?" Robbie spoke up. 

"The only reason Campbell is keeping us on the case is that we said we would keep up with our case load. Have you heard back from his sergeant yet?"

"No,"

"Well then, I might as well wrap up another case while you wade through what we've got so far." She looked at him, daring him to challenge that.

He sat down with a sour look on his face. 

She took that as acceptance and left.

"Oh, and would you check how the fingertip search is going?"

She didn't have to turn around to see the glower on his face.

\--

She let Alan hand the idiot over to the custody sergeant. She almost wanted to do it herself, but it would be such a break from the norm that she didn't want to run the gamut of looks, or the well meaning sympathy and questions about Burke's case. She left a final instruction to Alan, "Let me know when his brief arrives and I'll keep an eye on the interview," and headed back to the office. 

Robbie wasn't any happier when she walked back into the office. She found him staring at the crime scene photos again. 

"Any luck?"

"Broke his alibi and found him with one of the TV's. Alan's getting him booked now."

Robbie snorted. "How the heck did he manage to stay at it for so long?"

That got her back up. "I knew it was him, just didn't have the evidence till now."

Robbie sagged. "Aye, those are the worst." The fight seemed to out of him worryingly fast and they stood in silence.

"Any word from London?" She broke it when it began to drag on. 

He shook his head. "Tried him again, just got his voice mail again."

"These folk that have lives outside the Job." She tried to lighten the atmosphere, though it fell flat. Robbie looked at his watch. 

"Mita's not phoned yet but we'd better go check on her."

"I think the walls are just driving you crazy."

He snorted. "You think?"

"Well you can go for the next proper coffee run."

"Oh, thanks," He pulled a face but he wasn't frowning quite so much as they walked out the office. 

They winced at the comparative darkness of the room Mita was watching the CCTV footage. 

"Your eyes not gone square yet?"

She elbowed Robbie. "Ignore him, he's just grumpy." She aimed at Mita.

Robbie shot a growl at her but she was used to it by now and she didn't bother to hide her smile as she checked over Mita. She looked a little drawn, not surprising given she'd been staring at the screen for several hours now. She knew that Mita was sensible enough to take breaks so she didn't push things. 

"What have you got so far?"

Mita handed her a pile of print outs. "Well, I've just got the latest set of camera results but they don't seem too promising at the moment. Those are cars and persons of interest who seem to be in the right area at the right time." She glanced at the photos. "I've got someone checking up on the cars and I have a couple of PC's going through the rest of the local camera's trying to figure out where the foot traffic is heading from. Not a lot to go on at the moment." Mita stood and stretched. 

"It's better than nothing. We might just get lucky." Robbie spoke, obviously in one of his optimistic moods again. 

She looked back at Mita. "You're in court tomorrow."

Mita nodded. "Case called at noon." 

"Okay, make sure you go home on time, get a good night's sleep."

"I can stay here a lot later."

Jackie looked straight at Mita. "You'll need a good nights sleep and time to catch up on your notes. The last thing you need is to be squared eyed from CCTV."

Mita looked like she was going to argue further so she asked, "It's the Mullen case isn't it?" 

Mita nodded. "Blackadder is a hell of a brief, you'll need to be on top of your game so he doesn't trick you. Besides, I'm pretty sure the Boss would rather you put some wee ned away, rather than numb your head on footage." She softened it with a smile and Mita nodded and relaxed slightly. 

"I suppose he would." 

She thanked her for the photos and Mita sat down again. Taking that as her cue, she followed Robbie back out. 

She paused outside the door, and bit her lip. "You don't think I was too rough on her?"

Robbie looked at her like she was daft. "You would have said the same thing six months ago when you were still a sergeant." He looked closer at her and sighed. "You've nothing to be worried about. You're not exactly Burke-like with the dressing downs are you?"

She started walking again. "I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not." 

Robbie laughed. "Well, it could be worse, you could be taking management lessons from me."

She chuckled. "Ach, you're not that bad." She paused. "When you're following the rules anyway." 

He grinned. "Trust you to add that."

"I've known you too long to say otherwise." She said wryly. 

"Smart Alec. I've still got seniority." He swaggered. 

She was tempted to say something about the lengths of their clean records but she stopped herself in time. That would be taking the banter too far, and she was enjoying the brief respite from sniping at each other. 

She was saved by her phone beeping. 

"It's a message from Stuart." She opened it as Robbie opened the door and held it for her. "He's asking how the Boss is." She followed Robbie into the office as she replied. 

"He say anything else?" 

She shook her head. "It sounded like things were pretty hectic on his end when we spoke yesterday." She didn't mention when exactly she had spoken to him in case she stirred up some more resentment about last night, and Robbie seemed to pick up on that. 

He didn't have a chance to say anything though, as his phone started to ring. She could hear him mutter underneath his breath as he rushed to get it.

His face changed though when he answered it and he hurriedly jotted down notes. It was her turn to twiddle her thumbs and wait for answers. She was sorely tempted to lean across and hit the speaker-phone button, but the office was just too noisy for that to be feasible. When it was clear he was on the phone for the duration, she got up and made them another cup of coffee. 

She decided she was utterly sick of the stuff for now and rummaged in the cupboards for a couple of teabags. 

He was still on the phone when she returned. She checked her own messages while she waited. 

He was smiling when he put the phone down. "That was Burke's sergeant down in London. He checked his personal records before he got back to us, that's why there was the delay."

"And?" She couldn't believe he was going to make her wait. He grinned again. 

"There definitely was a spate of the same injuries in the first half of ninety seven. He can't be more specific than that because they worked about four or five cases with the same print. It should be on computer file so it shouldn't be too difficult to get ahold of copies." 

She tried not to let her hopes rise too much but she couldn't help the smile that crossed her face. He handed the notepad to her. 

"You phone records," He glanced at his watch, "they should still be open, and I'll get someone to organise some food."

She shook her head at him, still smiling, and picked up the phone. 

The Met's record department were only slightly less grumpy now she had more specific dates for case files, and they grudgingly promised they would send electronic copies before close of business for them in an hour. She managed to finagle a promise that once they had an arrest warrant, they would send the entire physical file of the case they were after, including any evidence still left. 

Of course, Robbie found her frustration funny. He shoved a bar of chocolate in her direction in apology and gave her one of his trademark charming grins. 

She rolled her eyes and picked up her mobile as it beeped. 

"The idiot's brief is here. Right, I'm off to make sure Turner gets on okay."

Robbie nodded. "I suppose I'd better check on my cases in case Campbell drops by again." He didn't look enamoured at the thought and she couldn't resist the snort of laughter at the look on his face.

\--

Alan Turner was fine with the interview; he had sat in on enough by now and was more than capable of managing to stay calm. Still, it took longer than she would have liked to get the ned to crack and she jotted down a few notes to go over with him before tomorrow. 

He beamed at the 'Good job,' she gave to him after she caught up with him and he didn't look fazed when she said she would talk to him later. He practically bounced down the corridor and she suddenly felt incredibly old. It seemed like a lifetime ago since she had been that enthusiastic. 

The smell of pizza cheered her a little as she walked back into the office and Robbie didn't object too much when she stole a slice out of his box. 

They managed a little banter as they ate, the whole office's mood more jovial now that there might be an actual lead. She kept refreshing her email though and she could see as time past, Robbie was getting more uptight as well. 

Finally it arrived. Before she opened it, she forwarded a copy to Robbie so he wouldn't be looking over her shoulder for too long. 

Her heart sunk a little at the number of cases but there was nothing for it but to dive in. She started at the beginning, the understanding they had acquired over the years meant she didn't have to ask but he would start at the latest date and work back. They didn't say anything as they read through the files, their half empty pizza boxes shoved to the side and forgotten about. 

She picked the first one and skimmed the initial details, glancing through to the description of injuries. No mention of the glove print. 

Neither did the next one but the third one did and she skipped forward to the attached photos to double check. 

"Robbie," she didn't say anything else but he understood perfectly and crowded around behind her. She let him look at the photo in question, then went back to the report; it was a fight outside a club. 

She sagged in disappointment when it turned out they guy had only served three years for assault. Nothing that would justify attacking Burke fifteen years later. 

Robbie looked as disappointed as she felt and she flicked onto the next one. No matching glove print. 

It was another three cases before it turned up again, Robbie still standing over her shoulder, clearly disappointment was better in company. It was somewhat reassuring to have him lean over her shoulder, so close she could smell him, as she searched. 

She perked up as she read the details. Three bookies had been robbed, with the same method and injuries for each of them, the gloves used to knock the sole remaining occupant out. Reading between the lines she could to see Burke's frustration and against her wishes hers began to creep up as well. She wasn't too sure this case would lead anywhere, the amounts stolen weren't large and no one was permanently injured, whoever had been caught would have been out a couple of years ago. 

Reading further, the feeling of being wrong again dissipated. The fourth robbery had gone wrong. Both of the owners and a last minute punter had ended up dead, each of them bearing the glove print and signs of rather brutal beatings. 

The violence fit. 

She tried to stop herself from counting her chickens before they had hatched. She read further. Burke and his sergeant had arrested two brothers, George and Ian Lewis, and the pair had been found guilty and sentenced to twenty years. 

Her heart leaped. The timing would be right for early release. She smiled as she shifted to look at Robbie. He smiled back before he returned to his desk. 

"You phone the prison, I'll check the other cases just in case."

It was another long frustrating phone call and she was beginning to feel like the like phone was part of her. 

Robbie shook his head at her as she hung up but she grinned anyway and he raised an eyebrow. She nodded and stood to walk to the front of the board, the office going quiet when she turned and faced them. 

She took a brief second to note everyone was as exhausted as her but started as Robbie looked as if he was champing at the bit for more information.

"We have a new lead." She stuck a picture to the board. "Ian Lewis. Burke put him and his brother George away for a string of robberies that ended in three dead." She smiled. "George died of a heart attack in prison three years ago and Ian was released six months ago." She gestured to the photo of the glove mark. "All the attacks had the same glove mark we found on Burke, and the violence of the last robbery certainly fits." Her smile dimmed slightly. "I've tried to get in touch with Lewis' parole officer, but no success yet. I want to check the public records to see if there is any record of him coming north. It's too early to get a warrant for his bank records, but I want someone to check his family background, see if we can establish his state of mind, any one we can run checks on."

The office suddenly buzzed again and she felt revitalised at the sound. 

She sat back down at her desk just as it rang again. 

Answering it, she was reminded that parole officers worked just as long hours as they did.

Nothing much to confirm or deny. Lewis had so far turned up for his meetings and seemed to be grief stricken over his brother's death but he hadn't said anything about Burke or retribution. The last meeting had been three days ago and they weren't due to meet again until tomorrow morning. 

She managed to hold back her deep sigh until after she had thanked him and hung up. 

Robbie looked at her in question. 

"Nothing to add. Hasn't talked to him since Thursday and isn't supposed to until tomorrow morning."

Robbie looked thoughtful. "The fact he's not been seen plus the history should be enough to get a warrant to check his bank and phone records."

She nodded. "I'll run it past the fiscal anyway."

She saw Robbie look a little lost for a minute but before she could do more than look concerned at him, some one in the fiscal's office picked up the phone. 

They promised to look into it, though it would take a while, and she had to bite her lip when the likely time on such flimsy evidence was the morning. Not that was in fact a long time away, it was dark enough outside to remind her that in July it was after ten. 

She rolled her shoulders, suddenly aware of how stiff she was. She was getting too old to sit like this all day. 

Robbie was tapping his fingers again, and he looked lost in thought. She softly called his name and he jumped, his pen rolling off the desk as he let it go. 

"Sorry, eh." He looked lost for words and she could see him mentally shake himself. "Phoned the hospital. He's still stable but he's not showed any signs of improvement yet."

She avoided saying something trite, knowing it would only make herself feel worse as well. 

"What did the fiscal say?" 

It was her turn to jolt. "Probably the morning, given it's not a great deal to go on."

Robbie scowled and normally she would have rolled her eyes at his reaction but given how close it was to hers, she didn't bother. She stood, suddenly too wound up to sit still. She did another round of the office, checking in with everyone, seeing who needed sleep and what progress had been made. 

All his neighbours had had background checks now, and nothing had been flagged up on any of them. Nothing similar had cropped up elsewhere in Scotland either. 

Stephens and Henderson were still checking on Burke's Glasgow cases. A few more possibilities had been identified and most of them eliminated with ironclad alibis. There were still one or two that hadn't been yet but their form suggested it wasn't them. Still, it was something to keep an eye on, especially if this Lewis lead didn't turn out.

Turner was checking into Lewis' family, most of whom it turned out were already dead, so no luck there. He had started making enquiries into Lewis' known associates, but he was still waiting to hear back about most of them. At this time of night, it wasn't likely to be any time before the morning. 

She tried not to let her disappointment show, with Turner at least. It just seemed to be crawling now. She did take the chance to lower her voice and quietly have a word with Turner about his interview earlier. Just a few hints and tips really and fortunately Turner took it well, eager to learn more and improve rather than being a jaded wee know it all. 

She said as much to Robbie when she walked back to him. "Though he makes me feel old."

Robbie gave a slightly strained laugh. "How do you think it makes me feel?"

She grabbed her handbag. "I'm going to grab a few hours sleep while we wait for the warrant." She paused. "Did you update Campbell?" She felt like such an idiot for forgetting until now. 

She only felt marginally better when Robbie nodded. "When you were on the phone to the PO. She wants another update at lunchtime tomorrow."

She nodded and gave a wan smile. 

"See you first thing."

He nodded and looked a little forlorn and she felt a stab of guilt when he made no move to leave. 

She shook it off. He would get some sleep eventually and nagging him would only make his temper flare and make him feel worse. 

\--

She stopped by Tesco on her way home, God bless twenty-four hour supermarkets, and picked up a ready meal. She almost debated with herself at the end of the wine aisle, until she saw it was closed off anyway. It was after ten, she had to remind herself. She was almost dead on her feet anyway and she still had a bit of a bottle in the fridge so she headed for the check out instead. 

She kicked her shoes off the instant she got in the door and headed straight for the kitchen. Bag and coat dumped on the table, then she stuck the risotto in the microwave and checked her messages while she waited. Nothing from anyone she had to get back to so she poured herself the remains of the wine. 

She couldn't face sitting alone at her kitchen table to eat tonight so she went through to her couch again and channel surfed as she ate. 

She settled on Mamma Mia!, even though it was halfway through and she owned it on DVD. She half heartedly watched, badly humming along and managed to get her plate onto the coffee table before she thought back over the day. She and Robbie hadn't been this out of sorts around each other in a long while. Thinking about that would mean thinking about everything else that had happened in the last few months though and she wasn't sure she was up for that at the moment. 

At least Burke was stable, and they had a viable lead now. That thought seemed to settle her, even if she knew the wait was just going to drive her crazy. 

She looked at the clock and sunk deeper into the couch as she realised how tired she was. She drained the rest of her glass and picked up the handset to turn off the TV. 

She jolted as the door bell rang, as if someone was leaning on the bell and she fumbled the handset in her rush. It was hard to think who would be ringing her door like that at this time of night, and none of the options she came up with were particularly pleasant. 

She glanced through the peephole just as however it was, Robbie it turned out, stopped pressing the bell. She swung the door open and the sarky remark that she would have normally made died on her lips and a spike of fear ran through her as she saw how rough he looked. 

She opened the door wider and stepped aside to let him in. She must have looked truly terrified as he managed to shake his head and utter, "Burke's fine," despite how godawful he looked. She sagged against the door as she shut it behind him. She took a couple of deep breaths then looked at Robbie closely now she was able to think clearly. 

He was tense, his hands in fists at his sides, his tie off and shirt askew. His suit jacket looked as if he had just thrown it and he was as quiet as she'd ever seen him.

She shooed him into the living room. He didn't say anything as she directed him to the couch; another bad sign. She left him alone staring at the TV to go into the kitchen. 

As the kettle boiled, she rummaged for a teabag. She swore when she put her hand in and found only a couple left. She should have got some when she was in Tesco. She couldn't hear movement in the living room and when she returned with a mug of tea in each hand, she found he hadn't moved at all. 

He gave a brief nod of thanks when she handed him his mug and she curled up on the couch beside him, knees touching his leg but giving him his space otherwise. 

"I take it tea's not what you're really wanting," she ventured after he stared at this mug for a minute. 

He jerked his head up wards and looked apologetic. "Nah," He sighed and took a sip. "Sorry, Jackie, it's just," he leaned forward and looked into his cup again.

"Normally you would phone Burke."

He whipped round to look at her and she couldn't help the quick burst of laughter at the surprised expression on his face. 

"Oh come on, Robbie, how long have I known the both of you?" He looked slightly less surprised. "And remarkably enough, reading people is what I do for a living." She grinned wryly as she took another sip of her tea. 

He snorted. "Aye," and leaned back, still cradling the mug. "I'm sorry for just turning up, especially after the last couple of days."

She shrugged it off. As much as they had been annoying each other, she would rather he was here drinking tea, than out getting pissed and getting up to god knows what again. 

"I hate waiting for bloody warrants." 

"You don't have to tell me." 

He blew out a breath. "No, I know," He sipped his tea again then put the mug down on her coffee table. He looked as if he didn't quite know what to do with himself now. 

"What crap are you watching?" Apparently he was going for the create an argument approach to boredom and stress. 

"Mamma Mia. I can always stick the DVD in if you want to watch it from the beginning." She wasn't entirely above baiting him either. 

Neither of them had much energy for it though and he shook his head and slumped. She leaned back as well and didn't say anything else. 

The silence between them stretched on and it began to feel uncomfortable. She missed the days when they could sit down the pub and grumble and banter for hours after work. She tried not to blame Robbie too much for the fact they were curled up on her couch instead, it wasn't as if she wasn't drinking too much herself. Probably better for everyone all round they weren't drinking. 

Especially when they were already wound up like this, it was hard to tell how much more on each others nerves they would be with a couple of drinks or hangovers in them. 

She sighed, louder than she meant to and she winced when Robbie started to sit up. 

"I'll leave you to get some sleep." 

"Robbie," she grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "It's not you, it's everything. We can't even banter like we normally do."

He relaxed. "Yeah." He snorted. "I can just imagine the Boss having a field day with our reactions." 

She managed a smile as well. 

"No, I was just thinking we really need a better coping mechanism."

"You mean now that I'm on my last leg and cannae drink, shag or smoke?"

She rolled her eyes. "It's not as if my livers not enjoying the break either."

"And you broke up with Chris."

"Thanks for the reminder." It was softer than it sounded though, more back into their normal teasing.

He leaned back on the couch. "He wasn't good enough for you anyway."

She snorted. "Says you."

"I know about these things."

It was full out laughter now. "Well you would."

"What are you implying?" He put on his fake wounded expression and she smiled.

She didn't reply, just took a sip of her tea and he smiled slightly. He relaxed back into the couch, the atmosphere lighter again. She wasn't sure how they had fallen into their light hearted teasing again but she was glad of it, glad enough that when he put his arm on the back of the couch, she leaned against him and tucked herself under his oxter. His arm came around her shoulder and they sat in comfortable silence as the last part of the film played. 

"What about an allotment?"

"For what?"

"A coping mechanism."

"You, in a garden? Growing veg?"

"What's so hard to believe about that?" He looked perfectly innocent.

She had to put the remains of her tea down before she splashed herself as she shook with laughter. 

"It's not the sort of dirt I can see you playing in," She managed after a minute. She calmed down. "I think you would be better off learning to cook first."

"What and let you get fat from tasting it all?" He was smirking now. 

She elbowed him in the ribs. 

He wisely didn't say anything after that, just the occasional snigger. 

The credits rolled and she knew she really should get and up head to bed. She was warm and comfortable where she was though, and Robbie had relaxed. He shifted slightly, grabbing the handset off her and randomly flicking through channels. 

It would be so easy to cuddle up further, and kiss him until she forgot all about everything. It wasn't as if she hadn't thought about it before, especially recently with the way he had looked at her after her break up, and especially after that kiss when she was pretending to be his girlfriend. For the most part, she had put it out of her head, they had been friends for too long, flirted too long for it to really happen, except when she was feeling lonely and horny. 

There was a reason why he had no problem getting women into bed. 

She sighed and he looked down at her. She smiled lightly. "Just tired."

"Sorry, I'll just head off,"

She shook her head. "I'll get a pillow and a blanket and you can stay here."

He smiled in thanks and gave her shoulders a quick squeeze before he pulled his arm away. 

As she rummaged in the airing cupboard for the spare quilt, she thought it was for the best her thoughts had been interrupted. They didn't need to complicate matters, and knowing the pair of them things would just even more strained, at least until Burke was awake enough to shout at them. 

She paused picking up the quilt, trying to bite back the tears at the thought of Burke. If he woke up. 

She heard the door open behind her and she quickly wiped away the tears that had escaped. 

"You okay?" He was leaning against the door frame and his voice was soft. 

It would be so easy to take a step and just go for it. So easy, and the concerned look he was giving her wasn't helping either. 

"Just tired and eh," Her voice cracked and she had to take a deep breath.

He nodded and reached out and gently took the quilt from her. "Get some sleep." He placed a kiss on her forehead and she gave him a wobbly smile. 

"You too." 

He nodded and she closed the cupboard door. 

She slipped into bed and cried herself to sleep instead.

\--

**Monday**

They were both too tired to say much as they grabbed a quick breakfast in the morning, using the last of her teabags and usable bread. She dropped him off at his flat to get changed, the car ride quiet as they listened to the early morning news reports.

She stopped by the hospital instead of phoning after a quick check revealed the warrant still wasn't in yet. The nurses were good enough to let her sneak in despite the fact it wasn't quite visiting hours yet.

"He's been stable overnight now, and there are a few muscles movements. All good signs but we need to wait until he wakes up to get the full picture."  
At least they were using when and their tone was rather more hopeful. Just five minutes, she was told, the doctor will be around shortly and he'll need peace to examine him. 

She nodded gratefully and slid into his room. It was hard to avoid seeing his injuries, even with the sheet pulled up to keep him warm. It was the first time she had seen him since the attack and she had to stop and cover her mouth, both to stop the sob that threatened and to stop the bile rising. Even now, with the edges of the bruises starting to turn a ghastly yellow, he looked atrocious and it seemed a miracle that one body could survive all that. 

She managed to take a deep breath without gagging or choking on a sob and she took a step forward, the next step easier and she sat down on the chair beside the bed. She licked her lips, not quite sure what to say. 

She gently held his hand between hers, more in reassurance than anything else. "You're going to have to get better soon. Me and Robbie are going to need a kick up the backside if you'll be lying here much longer." She blinked away the tears that had started and plastered on a smile. "Besides, you'll need to get up so you can have a go at the bastard who put you here." She didn't say the implied 'if we catch him'. 

She let go of his hand after another awkward pat, they weren't very tactile with each other at the best of times and touching him just seemed to add another layer of how wrong this all was. "Anyway, I," she cleared her throat. "I can't sit about here all day. I need to go make sure Robbie hasn't killed the fiscal yet." She managed a proper smile. "Wouldn't want you accusing me of sitting on my arse all day either." 

She took a deep breath and stood. She nodded to the nurse on the way out and she felt a little unsettled as she walked out the ward, not entirely sure if she felt better after the visit. She was a little buoyed by the fact he was still hanging in there and the fact the nurses were certainly more optimistic sounding than they had been. Still, he looked appalling and he still wasn't showing signs of consciousness yet. She paused on the way back to the car and leaned against the wall, the pebble dash digging into her back through her blazer. 

She felt the urge to curl up and just hope it was all a bad dream creep up on her again and she had to close her eyes and focus on her breathing for a minute to head it off. 

She reminded herself that generally speaking, the nurses in intensive care had good instincts about these things, and that combined with the fact that they were definitely onto something with Lewis, made the feeling fade into the background again. She pushed off the wall and by the time she made it into the office, she was almost calm, baring the usual parking related stress. 

She didn't see Robbie when she glanced around the office, just the usual hubbub and messiness that accompanied the fact that the room was occupied twenty four seven. She pulled her chair out and started to take her blazer off, the office humid and not nearly as ventilated as it could be. She was about to sit when she saw the flimsy carrier bag sitting on the floor underneath her desk. Slightly bemused, she gingerly opened it. 

She broke into a grin when she saw a small box of Scottish Blend pyramid tea bags and a white loaf. Her favourite type of Warburton's to be precise. Evidently Robbie had had a rummage in her cupboards while she had been getting dressed this morning. 

That was assuming it was Robbie but she couldn't think of anyone else who would act the part of the tea fairy for her. She shoved the bag to the back of her desk with a foot and sat down. Robbie appeared with a cup of coffee in his hand as her monitor sprung to life.

He nodded in greeting. 

"Thanks," she jerked her head in the direction of the floor and he shrugged it off. 

"How is he?"

"Surprisingly okay." She shrugged. "Well, the nurses seem to think so, even if he does look like he's gone ten rounds with a lorry."

She obviously failed at keeping the note of fear from her voice and Robbie grimaced. The small semblance of a good mood she had managed to acquire evaporated and Robbie picked up on it. 

"Spoke to the Fiscal," she managed to restrain herself from making a remark and he shot her a look that wasn't best pleased. "The warrant is finally on its way and should be here any minute now." He hit a button on his keyboard and frowned. 

Obviously not in yet. 

"Anderson just told me all the door to doors are back in now. Still nothing useful, apart from the wee old woman who thought she heard a car door slam at about the right time." Frustration coloured his tone and she agreed with him. That was about as much good as a chocolate teapot. 

She let out a slow breath; it would do no good to get so frustrated this early in the day. She didn't have time to ponder on that anymore as Robbie's face broke out into a grin. 

"Warrant's here."

She brought up Lewis's bank details, and Robbie phoned the main London branch he was registered with. 

She sent off a copy to the credit card company, always easier to deal with than the banks, and the records were all ready sitting in her inbox by the time Robbie got off the phone. He muttered under his breath. 

He shook his head. "Just dragging their feet. Should be here in the next hour once the manager has time to look out the files."

Fairly standard but as annoying as ever. 

She motioned him around to check the screen with her and she opened the file.

She tried not to be too disappointed when the credit card record showed only a few internet purchases. They would check out each of the merchants of course but a quick look at the names included big online shops and various gaming sites. She tried not to sigh at the prospect of more dead ends. 

She heard Robbie's huff of annoyance and she didn't look at him so she could stay calm. 

"We've still got his bank details to check out,"

"And if he paid cash, or drove up?"

"Then we'll have him on camera somewhere." She tried to make herself believe it would be that easy. "Go and phone Duncan, see what else has come back."

He grumbled to himself again as he pulled his mobile from his pocket and headed over to the window. She watched him stare out the window, and glanced away when she saw him start to talk. 

She slouched slightly. 

"Don't tell me it's that bad already?" Mita appeared beside her. 

She gave a small humourless chuckle. "No, no. Just Robbie and I squabbling again."

Mita raised an eyebrow. 

She forgot sometimes that Mita hadn't been in CID all that long. 

"Nothing new, par for the course at this stage really. Just Burke's not here to knock our heads together."

Mita nodded and smiled a little. "Alastair said you went to see him this morning?"

She nodded and reflected that the office was worse than a hairdressers for gossip. 

"Nurses seem optimistic."

There was that word again. She was getting sick of it. She sat up straighter and noticed Mita was in the smartest outfit she seen her yet, which considering how new to CID and plainclothes she was, was saying something. 

"How are you feeling?"

Mita sighed. "Nervous, which is daft because I've been in court before," Mita bit her lip and looked a little embarrassed at the admission.

"Well, it's your first time as one of the lead officers and you were with the whole case this time, rather than just part of it."

Mita considered that. "I suppose," Mita frowned. "I don't think it helps that I would be better off here."

Jackie shook her head. "No, you wouldn't and Burke would be the first to tell you that. You're close to putting him away, and that's worth more than missing a body for a few hours on a case of this size." She gave a lopsided smile. "Much as some of us would like to think that way, none of us are indispensable." 

Mita smiled at that and Jackie could feel herself relax a little. "Have you had something to eat?"

Mita nodded. "Yeah, I was just going to finish my tea before I checked on the CCTV."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Leave the CCTV and have a biscuit. Getting frustrated over this case is not going to help." Mita looked unsure. "I can make that an order if it helps." Her tone was dry and that was what Mita needed. 

"Okay." She nodded and determinedly headed in the direction of the kitchen. 

Jackie sighed. The first court case in CID was always tough and she wasn't sure she had helped Mita much. 

"She all right?" Robbie asked as he sat back down at his desk. He nodded in the direction Mita had went.

"Just a touch of nerves. Remember those days?"

Robbie snorted. "Nah, not me."

"Oh aye, I forgot you were born cocky."

He pouted and she couldn't help but chuckle. 

Robbie ignored it. "Duncan didn't have anything useful. No further on the blood and it turns out the fibres they collected are all generic black acrylic that can't be narrowed down."

No wonder he sounded cheesed off. He went back to reading something on his computer and she left him to it. She started reading over Turner's report about yesterday's interview. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Mita sit down again, cup of tea with her this time, and pour over some stills. She sighed. Well, if that was what got her to relax then so be it. 

She heard the exclamations a minute later and looked at Mita properly. That had been the harshest language she had heard her use in the six months she'd been hear. Mita stood up and Jackie could see it was because she had spilled her tea down her front. 

Still nervous then. Mita looked like she was on the verge of cracking up so Jackie stood and walked over to her desk. 

"Did you burn yourself?" She asked as she saw the tea dripping off the desk. 

Mita shook her head. "It just caught my shirt." She was holding it away from her skin as she mopped up the tea with a couple of tissues. She threw them in the bucket before she looked down at the damp patch. 

Jackie could see her deflate and caught her elbow. "C'mon, loos." She gently turned her around and dropped her elbow. "Bring your jacket as well." Mita did as she asked and then followed her out. 

Mita looked rather panic stricken by the time they made it to the mostly empty ladies. "Take your shirt off, we'll see what the damage is." Jackie said with a soft smile.

Mita went into a cubicle and emerged a minute later wearing her blazer and her shirt in hand. Jackie took it from her. 

The damp patch was a long line down beside the button holes. She squeezed the excess out and rinsed with a little tap water. "It's a dark shirt so the tea shouldn't show so much." Mita leaned against the sink. 

"Just as well it wasn't coffee then." Mita managed a weak smile. "I can't believe I did that."

Jackie could tell the embarrassment was kicking in now. She squeezed the wet area again. "Here, hold it underneath the dryer, but not too close." 

Mita looked at her and she shrugged. "Done this a few times myself," she admitted with a smile. 

Mita managed a nervous laugh, and her embarrassment seemed to fade. The loos emptied out and it was just her leaning against a sink as Mita dried her shirt. 

Mita bit her lip again. "I'm really sorry, Jackie, I know you've got better things to do."

Jackie shrugged it off. "Needed a bit of a distraction."

Mita pulled her shirt away and checked the damp patch. She stuck it back under the drier. "I'm just terrified I'm going to mess the case up." She spoke louder to be heard over the noise of the hand dryer and Jackie moved to the wall beside her so she wouldn't be overhead as a PC came in. 

"The evidence is solid and you've done nothing wrong. Yeah, they'll try and twist your words, they always do but you've been on court plenty of times before. Apart from what you are wearing, the process is exactly the same."

Mita looked thoughtful and aside from the hand dryer and the toilet flushing, it was quiet. 

"I think it's dry enough now." Jackie looked down as well and nodded. 

"Put it back on, we'll see if it's noticeable." She gave a small smile and Mita dashed off into a cubicle. 

The PC emerged and smiled a greeting at Jackie as she washed her hands, even managed not to look curious at what was going on. 

Mita came out as the main door swung shut. She was looking down at herself. Jackie squinted. "It's not obvious at all. If you keep your jacket buttoned, it'll be no problem at all."

Mita smiled in relief but double checked in the mirrors anyway. Jackie watch as Mita squared her shoulders. "I just need to talk a deep breath and remind myself I've done this before." 

Jackie moved off the wall. "Are you sure there is nothing else? I've never seen you this rattled before." She hadn't. Ever since she had joined them, Mita had been calm, in control and completely unafraid to stand up to even Burke. 

Mita shook her head. "I guess Burke being in hospital and investigating his attack has just thrown me a little." 

"It's easier to butt heads with him than worry about giving evidence."

Mita laughed then ducked her head. When she straightened she turned to look at Jackie. "I don't know how you're managing to cope."

Jackie snorted. "Barely." She tilted her head. "It helps I've got Robbie to vent at." It was helping, though they would be lucky if they didn't cause severe damage before the case was over.

Mita laughed. "We'll keep an eye out for any bloodshed." 

"That and caffeine overdose." She tried to go for humour.

Mita smiled again, and seemed more relaxed as she moved towards Jackie. She tentatively reached out and squeezed her arm lightly. "I've got a stash of dark chocolate if you need some."

Jackie managed a weak smile and Mita seemed to realise she couldn't talk about it much more. 

"I'd better be off. I'll check in when I can and I'll just pretend they're in their underwear."

Jackie gave a soft huff of laughter. "Yeah. Good luck." 

Mita nodded and walked out the loos, looking calmer than she had done earlier.

Jackie sagged back against the sinks. She felt drained and she rubbed her face tiredly. After a couple of deep breaths she turned around and faced herself in the mirror. She looked as bad as she felt, pale and completely washed out. Another deep breath and she stuck her hands under the cool tap, and let the water refresh her slightly. She leaned against the wall as she dried them. What she had said to Mita had been the truth. She and Robbie were venting at each other far too much and if she thought about it, she wasn't coping brilliantly. 

She missed Stuart. He hadn't just buffered her and Robbie, the whole dynamic was different without him and given Robbie's near misses lately, and the break up with Chris, she was starting to feel a little adrift without Stuart. 

At the very least, he would have brought a couple of bottles around and they could commiserate without worrying about hurting Robbie. 

As soon as she thought that, she hated herself for it. Robbie was just as much her best friend and she knew how much he was struggling with the gambling and his debts. She leaned her head against the tiled wall, and it was lovely and cool. 

She took a couple of deep breaths and there was nothing else for it but to stand back up and head back into the office. 

\--

Robbie gave her a concerned look when she walked back in but she smiled and stood beside him. 

"Just giving Mita a few tips." 

He looked at her a beat longer then nodded. "Bank details are just in but I've not had a chance to look at them yet."

She leaned down, resting her palms on her desk to get a better look as he opened the file. The second to last charge, made this morning, was a train ticket. Robbie picked up the phone and called National Rail. As he tried to find out the train the ticket was for, she looked over the rest of the transactions. No big withdrawals or deposits, mainly small withdrawals every week or so. 

It didn't look as if he had regular work, at least nothing that paid by bank transfer, and he didn't have a lot of money in his accounts. She frowned as she recalled that most of the money had been recovered from the robberies but it was entirely possible that not everything had been. She left Robbie on the phone and double checked the file from London. 

Burke's notes said all the money from the previous robberies had been found plus more, but they hadn't been able to confirm the exact amount from the disastrous one. It was more than likely they had managed to stash some away before they had been caught. No amount of digging had turned anything else up, but they had stopped searching after the case went to court. Waste of resources to search for an unidentified amount, so it seemed anyway. There had been no relatives left to keep the pressure up. 

It was a sad thought but she had no time to dwell as Robbie was grinning as he put the phone down. 

"Turns out the ticket's for the train to Glasgow. Should get into Central in about forty five minutes."

His grin was contagious. "C'mon, I'll buy you lunch."

\--

Lunch, it turned out, was a roll from the Greggs opposite the main entrance to the station. They ate in the buzz of the train station, which was still calm compared to when they had tried to get parked outside. Their Police badges had certainly come in handy there. 

They had to time to admire the building, and people watch and enjoy the relatively rare sunshine before the train drew in. 

She held the picture in her hand and passed a copy to Robbie as they both scanned the crowds. It looked as if the train had been mobbed and she had to focus to make sure she didn't miss him. 

It was Robbie that caught him first. They moved towards Lewis and he seemed to be expecting them. 

"Officers. What can I do for you?"

"We'd just like a wee word down the station." Jackie plastered a polite smile on her face. 

"I'll take a wild guess that this is about Burke."

Robbie nodded. "Aye. Any particular reason you decided to come for a visit?"

"I was just going to give his family my condolences." Lewis grinned cockily. "Pay my respects like. He does have a family doesn't he, or did he just turn up fully formed in uniform one day?"

Jackie raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think condolences are needed?"

There was a flicker of shock on Lewis' face and his grin almost slipped but he recovered quickly. 

"Oh you know what the grapevine is like." He shrugged and Jackie would feel the urge to slap him forming, especially when he added, "Well, I suppose Burke always did have a hard head,"

She stepped forward, cutting off Robbie from doing something stupid and disguised the motion as guiding Lewis out the right exit. 

She slammed the car door shut behind Lewis and slid into the passenger seat since it wasn't an actual arrest yet. Fortunately, Lewis stayed put on the drivers side in the back meaning she could catch glimpses of him in the rear-view mirror. 

Given the way Robbie was gripping the wheel, it was probably best for everyone involved that he had to focus on driving. 

It took them a couple of minutes to get out the parking space they had managed and then it was into the stop start traffic that happened so often in the city centre. 

She closed her eyes briefly, in desperation not to roll them, when she realised Robbie was driving them the long road back to the station. 

When she opened them, Lewis was smirking. He quickly wiped the expression of his face when he realised she was looking, only to replace it with a cocky grin again. She wasn't sure what was worse. 

"I hope this wee conversation isn't about how I did it."

"Did you?" She asked pointedly. 

Lewis' grin widened, "How could I? You've just picked me up off the train?" He tried to look angelic, but it wasn't a good look for him. 

She avoided glancing at Robbie. They'd been fooled by that assumption in the past and she was determined not to again. She would need to see about getting a couple more officers to trawl through the CCTV records for both Central and Queen Street Stations, the bus station as well. Campbell was not going to be happy with that. 

Lewis seemed to take their silence as a point in his favour, and seemed to decide to needle them further. 

"Do you have any reasonable suspects yet?" He paused slightly, as if to let them answer, "Oh wait, you can't since you've resorted to picking me up off the train. Obviously Glasgow isn't producing the same kind of coppers as it used to."

"Listen, mate," She could see Robbie losing his cool, and if he hadn't been driving, he would have been right up in Lewis' face.

"Well there is that old adage of police work, the most obvious suspect is usually the right one." She plastered on a fake smile. "Can't say we've had any problems with that, have we?"

Clearly, winding up Lewis was an acceptable substitute whilst driving. "No, specially when they've got form."

Lewis looked as if he was up for the challenge. "Now, I've done my time,"

"No thanks to Matt Burke."

Lewis gave a flash of anger but controlled himself quickly. Clearly prison had done wonders for his temper. She resisted the urge to sigh. Great. 

"Well I'm sure you can tell him that in person when he wakes up."

"You sure he's going to wake up? What if his attacker comes back to finish the job?"

"Is that a threat? Robbie growled but Lewis just laughed it off. 

"No, no, just worried for his safety." 

"If you were so worried you could always tell us the last time you spoke to Burke."

"Ages ago, probably at my sentencing." He waved it off.

"You sure about that?" 

She shifted in the chair slightly, not liking Robbie's tone. 

"Yeah. Next you'll be asking for my alibi."

"What is your alibi?"

She tensed further, only years of practise stopping her from showing it. She settled for putting the window down a crack and forcing Robbie to look at her. 

"Stuffy in here."

She made a cutting gesture with her hand, hidden from view from the back seat. Robbie was veering far too close to interrogation, especially when he hadn't been read his rights yet, or wasn't even on tape.

Lewis laughed, and he looked as if he had picked up on the tension. He held up his hands. "You've caught me. I've no iron clad alibi because it was me that did it." He still had the cocky grin plastered on his face and she saw Robbie tense up again. 

"Am I going to need a lawyer?" 

She was ready to smack Lewis herself by this point, and he obviously knew at as he let out another laugh. She managed to grit her teeth. 

"Probably best. We wouldn't want you to get done for something you didn't do." He tone was tighter than she would have liked but the smile that accompanied it was better.

Robbie glanced over at her but he focused on turning into the street and getting parked again. 

Lewis stopped looking quite so smug as they took him into the station but he gave them a glimpse of it when they left him alone in the interview room to wait for his lawyer.

They stopped off to make the requests for the CCTV footage, and to second another couple of PC's. Campbell wasn't going to be happy about the resources being used, but most of the office was putting in unpaid overtime anyway. 

They headed for the kitchen next, and they needed to plan their approach. There was a part of her that screamed at her that this was their guy, that he had been entirely serious when he had confessed in the car. 

The more realistic part of her knew he was going to be tricky, and what they had so far was flimsy at best. Gut instinct didn’t count for anything. 

She just wanted to get in there and demolish him regardless. 

Robbie clearly felt the same and he wouldn't stand still.

"Robbie," It came out sharp and he turned on her.

"What the hell were you agreeing to a lawyer like that?" He stood close to her and tried to intimidate her. She'd known him far too long and closely for that to work though. She placed her mug down, getting angry back would just cause things to deteriorate. 

"Because he's a cocky bastard and I don't want this to go wrong." That didn't stop her from practically growling the words and Robbie knew her well enough that that brought him up short and forced him to think. "You know as well as I do that he feels utterly right, but we have absolutely nothing to prove it yet." 

He sagged against the units. "Fine." By his tone though, he clearly wasn't completely fine with it yet. 

She picked up her tea again. "Oh don't sulk, we've both been in CID long enough to know better."

"Aye? Well I don't see you jumping for joy either."

She bit her lip to avoid replying and her grip increased on her cup. It would blow over, it always did. She had to take a deep breath though. "I don't want him to walk either." She rinsed her cup out and they stood quietly for a minute. 

"That's the lawyer here." Becky, one of the support staff stuck her head round the edge of the door. 

"Did you put him in with him?" Robbie asked. 

Becky nodded. "Just the now." She vanished with a small reassuring smile. 

They stood quietly for a minute, giving Lewis time to chat. 

"C'mon, we'd better get started. I'd best go first."

He didn't look entirely pleased with that but he saw the reasoning behind it and nodded.

\--

She could tell by the way Lewis put on his best terrified reaction when they walked in the door that this wasn't going to go quickly. Even worse, she recognised the lawyer. Ben Silvers, just as cocky as his client, and very expensive. She buried her shock and smiled. 

Robbie sat beside her after he started the tape.

Silvers jumped in first. "I have to strongly protest my client being questioned like this, especially after he has just finished a long train journey."

Jackie started, keeping her tone even and pleasant. "We made it clear that we just wanted to have a chat with Mr Lewis."

"And intimidating him is the best way to go about that?" Silvers looked stern and appalled. 

She smiled sweetly. "We were just answering his enquiries about Chief Inspector Burke."

Robbie spoke up for the first time. "We barely spoke before he confessed. Definitely a sign of a guilty conscience." He smiled at Silvers and she couldn't help but wish Robbie hadn't said anything just yet as Lewis flashed a smug grin before he ducked his head and talked to Silvers. 

On the other hand, it seemed the fact they did visual recording these days as well hadn't quite sunk in yet. 

She glanced towards Robbie and he gave the smallest of shrugs. He appeared to be bemused as well. 

"A coerced confession, if there even was one at all. Mr Lewis tells me he felt intimated, that both of you created a hostile environment in the vehicle. I can't say I blame him. Two Inspectors coming for a recently released model prisoner? Interrogating him in a car without proper monitoring?" Silvers scoffed. "You've practically written our defence for us, assuming of course, that such stupidity even gets that far."

As much as she had been expecting it, to hear it laid out exactly how Lewis was trying to play them was still a blow, especially since it seemed she'd got her hopes up higher than she had realised. She didn't have time to think it over though, Robbie had leaned forward and looked as if he was about to let his anger free. 

She kicked him under the table instead. 

He managed to hide it well, and he avoided glaring at her for the moment. They pulled full attention to Silvers instead, who was looking incredibly pleased with himself. 

She plastered on a smile instead. "Our actions were hardly designed to intimidate, we brought Mr Lewis to the station as quickly as traffic would allow, we even had the radio on. Quite frankly it's odd to see someone with whom we just wanted a quick chat to go on the offensive so quickly."

She deliberately looked more bemused than she already was. 

"Well, as we have already stated, my client has not long been released from prison and uneasy around police officers. It's hard to blame him."

"Most ex-prisoners don't go around hiring expensive lawyers."

"My client felt that there was the distinct possibility of being fitted up for a crime he didn't commit. He wanted to make sure he was protected." 

"All right, we'll give him that but we would like to ask a few questions all the same." She smiled politely again.

"We'll go gentle on him." Robbie added. 

Silvers looked at Lewis then back to them. "My client is willing to answer a few questions for the sake of cooperation. However I don't want this turning into a witch hunt because you are too inept to find a proper suspect."

Well, that was them told wasn't it? Clearly he was trying to rile them into making a muck up but she would be damned if she let that happen. 

"Where were you on Friday?" Robbie started with the actual questions.

"At home, enjoying a relatively quiet night in with a few pals." Lewis spoke now and Silvers sat quietly for once. 

"And they'll all verify that will they?" Robbie's tone was still even.

Lewis smirked. "Of course."

"And you wouldn't be found to be coercing an alibi for yourself would you?"

"Inspector Reid, I expected better of you."

"We've got to ask. We'll need the details of these friends." She slid a notepad and pen across to Lewis. 

Lewis glanced at Silvers briefly, then it was silent as he wrote. 

Silvers spoke again. "I would like to know the reasoning behind questioning my client. Surely there are suspects who were in the city at the time?"

"None with the same form and motive."

"Motive? If you are looking into everyone Matt Burke put away, then you will be here to next Christmas."

"Yes, but you see," Jackie took the notepad back again. "None of them have such a strong motive as their brother dying inside."

"All right, I'm calling a halt to this. Both of you are clearly antagonistic towards my clients and unless you have reason to arrest my client, we will be leaving." Silvers stood and looked at them expectantly. 

She looked at Robbie and her heart sunk. They certainly didn't have enough to arrest Lewis, and worse, they hadn't even finished the interview. Clearly they weren't going to and Lewis stood.

Robbie shook his head. "We'll need to talk to your client," Robbie put the emphasis on that as he looked at Silvers, "again, so don't leave Glasgow." Silvers raised an eyebrow at Robbie's tone. "I'm sure you have plenty of ideas on who would like to hurt Burke." He managed to make it sound pleasant and she was impressed with the effort it took. 

Robbie switched the tape off and Silvers guided Lewis out the room. 

Lewis glanced over his shoulder at them and smirked. "If I can be of any help…" The smirk stayed as he turned back and left. 

She had to ball her fist to avoid hitting something. The gall, after he'd played them like that. She forced herself to take a deep breath, managed to hold it together enough to hear Robbie do the same. 

She stormed out the interview room, not caring if the door slammed. She was furious with herself. They had barely spoken to him and now they were a couple of steps backwards. All because they were too frustrated to see the fact he'd seen them coming and planned better than they had. 

It confirmed in her gut that he was the right one but it didn't help her anger at their stupidity. She yanked open her desk drawer and pulled out a packet of chewing gm. She slammed the drawer shut and sat down, chomping rather viciously on the gum to avoid hitting something. 

She tried not to curse when she bit down in the inside of her cheek and her eyes watered. 

She widened her eyes, willing desperately not to let a tear escape because it would lead to a bout of crying. That wouldn't go down well in the office or with Campbell once she got wind of it. Not that she needed much provocation to take them off the case, after that disaster, she was surprised she hadn't shown up in the office already. 

She tried not to think about that, no point in chancing the devil. She took a sip of the cold coffee sitting in her desk and tried to calm down. Anger wasn't going to help now. 

It took at least five minutes to feel steady enough to open the notebook, even that was rushed as she felt the glances at her by some of the others, whispering starting. 

She typed the first name into the database, seeing what background they had. She had just managed to calm herself into letting the background fade away and focusing solely on the screen when Robbie thumped down into his seat and slammed his drawer. She jumped slightly and she looked up at him. 

His expression was fairly neutral but his body language was pissed as hell. She could see the effort he was making to ensure it didn't spill over. 

His pen fell victim to it first. 

"Checking his alibi?" He managed.

"Just started."

He nodded. "I'll check on the CCTV." 

They hadn't been as stilted with each other in a long while, usually they would let rip at each other, but he seemed as frightened as her as to what would happen if they did let loose. 

She could feel his eyes on her as she stared at her computer screen and it took a colossal effort not to stare back and let loose on the argument that would inevitably follow. As much as Robbie was practically daring her to make the first move, and how much ranting and railing would make her feel better, that wasn't really her and she wasn't going to give in to it now. 

He backed off and she was dimly aware of him leaving as she typed more details into the database, her fingers hitting the keys with a lot more force than was necessary.

She managed to lose track of time as she kept a lid on things and focused so intently on the job in front of her that she jumped when the phone rang. 

Campbell wanted a word with both of them. Be in her office in ten minutes. 

She swallowed and felt drained. She knew it had been coming and now it was here she just wanted to cry a little. Probably a better reaction than the anger that covered. She took one more deep breath then spat out her chewing gum into a tissue. She took another swig of cold coffee and squared her shoulders. She needed to find Robbie. 

She found him hovering over one of the PC's checking the footage. Normally she would have found the PC's expression of annoyance amusing but she didn't have any energy for that today. 

"Campbell," was all she said and she walked back out, and didn't check to see if he was following. 

He caught up with her at the stairs and they made their way to Campbell's office in tense silence. 

\--

Campbell clearly wasn't happy when they stepped into her office. She didn't say anything straight away, letting her disapproval be been as she sat and didn't gesture for them to join her. 

"Tell me exactly what happened." Campbell looked expectantly at them. 

Jackie swallowed and tried not to glance at Robbie. The tension between them must have been obvious. 

"We picked up our main person of interest off the London train." Robbie clearly wasn't going to say anything, not when she could feel the tension radiating off him. 

"The suspect you we're talking about with the similar marks?" 

Jackie nodded. "He made a confession in the car, somewhat jokingly so we didn't pin our hopes on it. He asked for his lawyer, who turns out to be Ben Silvers."

Campbell raised an eyebrow at that. "Go on,"

"We didn't get very far into questioning as Lewis and Silvers claimed we had intimidated Lewis and since they were merely here as a courtesy they were leaving unless he was arrested."

"And there isn't anything to arrest him with." It wasn't a question. 

They both nodded anyway. 

"So what exactly did you get from this, other than the possibility of a complaint against both of you and mucking up the chances of a prosecution?" 

She swallowed and she could feel Robbie getting angrier beside her. She didn't reach out to him this time though, but took a step forward herself. 

"Ma'am,"

"I expected more from you, Jackie," Campbell stood, finger tips lightly resting on the desk. "Tell me why I shouldn't take the pair of you off the case and get Professional Standards in pre-emptively."

She had to take a deep breath. "Because he played us, Ma'am,"

"That's supposed to be an argument in your favour?" Campbell looked incredulous.

"The point is, this wasn't just some random act he decided on when we picked him up. He had one of the best defence lawyers in the city ready to accompany him and he knew exactly what would frustrate us the most."

"And there is nothing in his records or notes that describe him as that well organised." Robbie added. 

"All of which make his seem even more likely. It's awfly expensive to go to all this bother if he is just wanting to wind us up, especially for someone with no fixed income." She could see Campbell was considering it and didn't say anything else.

There was silence for a minute while Campbell looked them over. Jackie tried to relax, perhaps in vain to show things weren't taking quite the toll they were. 

She thought for a minute that Campbell was going to take them off the case, possibly make them take a day's leave but Campbell sighed instead and sat down again.

"All right, this is what we'll do. I want a full report of what happened today, a blow by blow description," She aimed this part specifically at Robbie, "so we can be ready if," 

"Lewis,"

"Lewis or Silvers make a complaint. I want it on my desk before you leave tonight. Once that is done, you are both going to spend some time on your other cases, then you are both going to leave relatively early and work out your frustration. I don't care how, as long as Burke wouldn't reprimand either of you for it, so long as that when you come in first thing tomorrow you are both level headed and ready to do your best." She paused to look sternly at them. "This is your last chance, I will assign another team if either of you make the slightest mistake. That means no more playing into his hands, regardless of how much of a smug wee bastard he is. Understood?" Campbell stared expectantly. 

Jackie nodded, a little disbelievingly, both at Campbell's language and the fact they were still on the case. "Yes, Ma'am."

Robbie managed the words at the same time.

"Good, now get me those reports." Campbell pulled a folder closer to her and started reading it, a clear dismissal. Robbie left first and she closed the door behind her. 

She managed to let out a sigh of relief when they walked out into the corridor. That had been a lot better than expected, and Campbell had their back, even if it was dependant on them not making any more mistakes. She almost felt as if she had a second chance and that let the anger and frustration settle slightly. 

Robbie clearly didn't feel the same, letting the fire doors swing with more force than was necessary. "I can't believe we managed to get fucking played like that."

She let him rant on, knowing if she interrupted him now it would be directed at her instead. 

"Bloody Professional Standards."

She tried not to let the anger beat out everything else again, and Robbie caught her grimace. 

"What?"

She shook her head. "Just trying not to get too pissed again." 

He snorted. "Well it's all right for you, it'll be me Standards will be after."

She bit back the reply as they stood outside the office doors and Wilkinson walked out. 

Wilkinson smiled at them both. "Survived your trip then?" His smile dropped as he caught the tension. 

She covered it with a polite smile. "Was better than we expected. Just might be having a visit from Professional Standards."

"Ahh." Wilkinson nodded. "Sorry to be the bearer of more bad news, but yous have missed dinner. And Mita phoned, her court case has some delays and she's not going to be in tomorrow." He shrugged and carried on past them. 

She had to bite back a scream of frustration and neither of them said anything as they barged into the office, both of them swinging the door with more force this time. 

She sat down at her desk, glancing at an update that wasn't very helpful from CCTV, mainly eliminations of those cars in the area they'd found. 

She took another deep breath and opened a blank incident report on her computer. She jotted down an outline of events in her notepad and seeing it written down so starkly made the anger rise again. 

How could they have been so stupid? All their years of dealing with crap like this and they just fell apart?

She threw her pen down. She knew really that it was because they were so close to the case, but that wasn't any consolation. 

She closed her eyes briefly, just listening to the bustle of the room and the sound of the rain against the window, and she managed to settle enough to open her eyes and start typing. 

As long as she pretended that it was just a normal report that she was neutral in then it wasn't quite as difficult. It was somewhat spoiled when she could hear Robbie sighed and cursing to himself, and she had to read parts several times over as she kept making typos. 

She had to clench and loosen a fist as the anger started to build again, building off Robbie's mood as she read over her finished report and the run ins started playing over in her head again. 

She had nearly finished when Robbie picked up the phone. She listened into the conversation when she heard him ask for Burke's ward. 

His body language didn't improve and he slammed the phone down. He caught her watching. "No improvement." He sounded gruff and walked to the printer. 

"You finished yet?"

She shook her head. He grabbed his print out and hit the stapler so the sound resonated. 

He winced at the noise, shaking his hand a little. The paper crinkled slightly in his other hand. He looked furious, as if he wanted a fight. 

"Nearly ready? And I'll take it with mine?"

She shook her head again, she needed to calm down enough to check it over with a cold eye. 

"Fine," He ground the word out, "if you don't want me to see it,"

"It's not finished yet," She had to grit her teeth as well, and if she spoke again she knew it would be to pick a fight. 

He seemed to know this as well. He leaned forward and grabbed his car keys and stormed out, the doors banging after him again. The office quietened and heads turned to look at her. She tried not to let the anger and upset show, staring at her computer screen and pulling her keyboard closer towards her. She needed a break from the report so she randomly selected a window and ended up on her email. 

Seven new since she had last checked, which seemed like an age ago. She tried to let the anger fade away, and as the noise built up again around her, it was easier to pretend nothing had happened. 

There were a couple of office circulars, neither of which held anything important, a couple of enquires about Burke's health and one from the head office marked important. She skimmed the rest of the subject headings, updates on some of her other cases that she should check. 

She read through them, a few new images on CCTV, a possible lead that she assigned to be followed up on but nothing earth shattering. She clicked onto the one from head office, more to see what new hoops they were going to make them jump through now. 

She wasn't far off, an update on the timeline and handbook for the new Police Service for Scotland. She closed it as soon as she realised. She really wasn't up to thinking about all that would entail just now. 

She opened the report again. The sooner she finished, the sooner she could put it behind her and try and calm down. 

Without Robbie there to add to her tension it seemed to go faster, or maybe it was just there wasn't that much left to do. She hit print and leaned back in her chair. 

She tried to get back into working some of her other cases but she just couldn't. She grabbed her jacket and handbag instead and left, only stopping long enough to put her report on Alise's desk on her way out. 

She got into her car and she realised she was shaking with, frustration, anger, she wasn't entirely sure. She rested her head against the steering wheel and took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm down. She heard her phone beep its alert for low battery and she rummaged in her bag to get it. She plugged it into the cigarette lighter and watched as the screen brightened. She started at the battery symbol for a moment and contemplated phoning Stuart. 

As much as she needed to hear his reassurances and his likely voice of reason, she knew how busy he was and the guilt for making him feel worse about not being here would cancel out any benefit she would get from it. She put the phone down even as she knew he would hate it for not phoning when she needed to. 

Her hands were still shaking though and for all she was tired, there was no way she was going to get to sleep soon. She glanced at the clock. Too late to hit the supermarket for wine, and she was in no mood to find a pub. She sat gripping the wheel, not entirely sure what she should do. Then she remembered she'd put her clean gym kit in the boot in the vain hope it would convince her to go more often. She sat upright. The gym at the station, as dismal as it was, especially at this time of night, would still be open. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. In a rush of activity, she disconnected her phone, grabbed her bag out the boot and locked the car behind her. 

The corridor down to the gym was fairly quiet, just a few nods in greetings from uniforms on backshift. The changing room was empty and cool. She had to flick the light switch on before she hurriedly changed into her workout clothes. 

The gym was just as empty and she took advantage and flicked the radio on, twisting it from its preset Clyde 1 to Clyde 2. She started running, building the speed up until she had to focus intently on keeping up. 

Not having to think was bliss and she kept on running. 

\--

She had to stop eventually, a stitch forming in her side, and she leaned against the wall next to the treadmill, gasping for breath. She had to force herself off the wall and it took all her willpower to get into the shower and change again. She could feel her muscles protest as she walked back to her car and she had to focus intently on driving safely home. It took the last of her energy to plug her phone onto charge and then set her alarm. 

She gave up at that point and fell face first into bed. She fell asleep like that, too exhausted to move to a more comfortable position. 

\--

**Tuesday**

She groaned as she hit her alarm into silence. She managed to roll onto her front, groaning when her shoes caught in her still made quilt. 

She felt like she had been hit by a bus. It dawned on her that she hadn't even changed out of her clothes before flopping into bed, hadn't even pulled the quilt over her. 

She managed to push herself upright and noted that at least her head wasn't pounding like it would have been had she been drinking instead. 

She tried not to moan too much as she made her way to the shower for a relatively long soak. 

It helped a little and she did a couple of light stretches to try and ease the rest of the stiffness. In fresh clothes she almost felt ready to face the world again. 

A feeling that lasted precisely as long as it took her to realise that she had left the teabags and loaf sitting under her desk. 

She leaned her forehead against the cupboard door in resignation. She would just have to stop somewhere for breakfast. 

Fortunately this was Glasgow and she didn't have to put up with excessive cheeriness at this time of the morning, not in the wee shop she stopped at anyway. 

Robbie wasn't in when she strode into the office. There was no sign of him either around the office. She debated phoning him for a second but pushed the thought aside and sat down at her desk. He would either be on his way and wouldn't answer or would just put her through to voice mail. Either way, there was no point in trying to nag. 

She checked her emails, just in case there had been a compliant, or a development she'd missed. Nothing. 

She wasn't sure whether to despair or cheer. 

Usually at this point in a major case they would have had had more luck but it felt like they hadn't made any progress at all. She forced herself to try and look on the bright side as it was too early in the day to get angry and frustrated again. 

There hadn't been a complaint put in yet, they had a good idea who was behind it and Burke was still doing okay, at least he had been an hour ago when she'd called before leaving the house. 

She got up and checked her watch. She sat down again as she realised she would just have time to catch Mita before she would have to turn her phone off for the duration. 

Mita answered on the third ring. 

"Jackie, I'm really sorry about this,"

"Don't worry, these things happen. I was just phoning to see how you got on yesterday?"

Mita let out a sigh. "All that nerves and I didn't even get called. Technicality on one of the other witnesses."

"Uch. How are you feeling today though?"

"Strangely better." Mita let out a small sound of disbelief and Jackie couldn't help the slight chuckle that accompanied that. 

"Good." She fell silent for a second. "I phoned the hospital earlier, he's still in there fighting."

Mita sighed, in relief this time. "Good." She echoed Jackie. "And the case?"

Jackie's heart sunk and she let out a groan. 

"What's wrong?" Mita sounded worried. 

"Nothing, just we've got a definite possibility and he's a slippery wee," She forced herself to take a deep breath but Mita seemed to get the idea anyway. 

"Look, I can,"

Jackie cut her off. "Don't even think of it. We've got things under control."

Mita was silent for a minute then, "All right." She gave a frustrated huff. "That's the call, I need to go."

"All right, good luck."

She hung up after that and felt crap again. She took another calming breath and stood and walked over to one of the new PC's who was checking the CCTV footage. She winced internally when she realised she didn't know his name yet. He must have been one of the new intake. 

She stared over his shoulder at the screen as he updated her that there was nothing to report yet. 

She breathed a sigh of relief as she came away that she was now high enough up the food chain that she didn't have to pour over CCTV footage unless things were desperate. It felt like she was forever checking on the trawling through the footage and she wasn't even doing it. 

There was still no sign of Robbie when she sat back down at her desk. Annoyance wrestled with worry and she had to force them both down. 

He has a fully grown man, and he wouldn't appreciate either reaction at the moment. 

She opened Lewis' bank records again and looked through them, surely there must be something that could help them.

\--

She looked up when Becky offered her a biscuit. She took one gratefully, a little shocked to see it was nearly ten. She'd not had much luck with his bank records. It seemed he was more the withdraw cash at the beginning of the week type, so they couldn’t even use the gaps in the records as proof of anything. 

She checked around for Robbie. 

No surprises, he still wasn't in. It was beginning to feel like before, when he would amble in after a late night. 

Of course, he picked then to walk into the office. He didn't say much as he walked in, occasionally nodding his head in greeting when he was spoken to. 

He headed straight for the kitchen and she grabbed her cup and followed. 

She paused in the door way and gave him a look over. He was rougher than yesterday, his suit creased and obviously yesterdays. He hadn't even straightened his tie. She took the kettle from his hand and she could smell the faint lingering of cigarette smoke underneath his cologne. 

She managed a weak smile when he said, "Morning," 

She couldn't find the words to speak as she felt like her stomach had dropped and she was going to be sick. He'd obviously been out last night and given the cologne was his emergency bottle he kept in his car and yesterdays outfit, she doubted he'd been home.

At least to his home. 

He grimaced lightly at the taste of coffee took. 

"Have you at least managed to eat something?" The words were clipped and it took a lot of effort not to make them more so. 

"Don't start, Jackie, I feel crap enough as it is." 

She bit her lip and finish making her own cup of coffee. 

"I just went to the races, had a wee flutter. Kipped on a mates couch."

"I didn't say a word." 

He managed a snort. "You didn't have to." 

She put her cup down, louder than she meant to. "Robbie,"

"No, Jackie, don't bother." He strode off, back into the office. 

She closed her eyes as she leant against the worktop. She took a couple of deep breaths before she opened them. Even then, she stared out the window and didn't touch her coffee. 

Maybe if she'd went after him last night, she cut the thought off. He was a grown man, and he could have phoned if he wanted. 

Shit. She knew didn't always work like that but he'd _promised_. She tried not to feel like she was stamping her foot in a tantrum and she took a sip of her coffee instead. 

She managed to dribble it down her front. 

"Bugger." She swore out loud as she reached out to grab a towel. She mopped it up, wincing as she dabbed a little too vigorously. At least it distracted her for a minute but as she smoothed the towel back over the radiator, she couldn't still help but feel as if it was her fault. And unbelievably angry at him.

She couldn't work like this and she tried to swallow it down. She couldn't afford to make another mistake like yesterday. 

She straightened up when the door opened again and O'Leary and Jenners walked in. They looked as if they were going to ask how things were going, but they took one look at her and apparently decided to leave things well alone. They pulled out the biscuit tin instead and offered her first pick. 

She managed another weak smile and tried not to grimace at how badly she was doing at hiding her feelings. 

She sat back down at her desk and Robbie didn't even look at her. He muttered under his breath a little instead and made a show of adjusting his monitor. 

She was more than capable of taking the hint and she didn't have the spare focus to deal with him just now. She threw herself back into the back records again. 

She noticed one or two charges at a couple of different coffee chains and pulled over the report that had been compiled on his family. Most of the charges looked enough for a couple of coffees, and she wondered if he was meeting anyone. 

Either that or he just liked to have lunch with his coffee. 

That option seemed a tad more likely when she remembered most of his family were dead but he still had plenty of friends and associates. She sighed. All of whom were still in London. She picked up the phone to ask another favour of the Met. She asked them to specifically focus on his last cell mate, who'd only been released three months ago. Had he mentioned anything in particular? What was his attitude like, especially inside after the death of his brother? 

There were vague promises as to when they would get back to her, though they suddenly turned to within the next twenty four hours, assuming they could track them all down within that time, when she mentioned it was in relation to an attack on one of their own. 

She hung up, feeling even more frustrated at the conversation. It wasn't terribly efficient but she would have much rather she, or at least one of her team, were doing the interviews. She let out another deep breath and pushed the thought to the side. 

She was in the middle of updating the progress file when her phone rang. She picked it up rather absentmindedly. "DI Reid."

"Inspector?"

A second, then she froze, as it clicked that she recognised the voice as one of the nurses she had spoken to over the last couple of days. 

"Yes?" It came out tentatively. 

"It's Nurse Kone here. Don't worry too much, but Matt has been taken back into surgery."

"Is he all right?" It sounded like a daft question as soon as she said it. 

"His blood pressure and pulse started dropping and he was showing all the signs of internal bleeding so they took him back in." 

Her stomach dropped for the second time that morning. "Do we," she blinked back tears, "should we come in?"

She saw Robbie jerk his head to look at her, screwing up his eyes slightly at the motion. 

"He's still in surgery so I wouldn't advise it at the minute. Probably best to wait and see how things stand after the surgeon has had a chance to look properly."

She felt numb, she knew the implication. If he survived the surgery.

"Thanks for letting us know." She managed to get out somehow. 

Kone sounded understanding. "We'll keep you updated."

She hung up in a daze and Robbie all but pounced on her. 

"What happened?" He sounded terrified.

She licked her lips, tried to find the words. "He's been taken back into surgery. They think he's bleeding internally." 

Robbie's face dropped and clouded over. She didn't say anything else, didn't have the chance really as he stood and grabbed his car keys. 

"Robbie," 

"I can't, Jackie," He sounded broken and that was the only thing that stopped her going ballistic at him as he walked out of the door again. 

She tried not to start crying in front of everyone and slowly made her way to the board. She rubbed out the current status of Burke in the corner and slowly so she didn't drop the pen she wrote: BACK IN SURGERY. SUSPECTED INTERNAL BLEEDING. 

She barely managed to put the pen back when the whole office quietened as someone noticed and it spread like wildfire. 

No one talked to her directly as she made her way back to her desk and sat down and she was grateful. She kept taking deep breaths, trying to focus on the here and now. She opened the progress report again to see what she could, she felt like she would fall apart completely if she let herself think about it. 

Not that she had the chance. She heard the tone of the background of whispers change and she looked up. 

If it was possible, she felt even sicker. 

Atkins. As if this day could get any worse.

"Inspector Reid." He gave a somewhat smug smile in greeting. 

At least wanting to slap it off his face gave her something else to focus on for a minute.

"Atkins. How can we help?" She was impressed she managed to give a tight smile in spite of everything. 

"DI Ross not about? I'd really like to have a chat with both of you."

"He's out at the moment."

Atkins sat on the corner of her desk and she dug her nails into her palm to avoid saying anything.

He didn't look like he was going to move any time soon. "It's a shame about Burke. Terrible thing."

She highly doubted he felt like that. He was probably dancing with glee on the inside. 

She didn't usually hate anyone from Standards like this, she'd married Brian after all, but she was more than willing to make an exception for Atkins. 

He smiled tightly after it became apparent that she wasn't going to start a conversation any time soon. "Just wanted a wee chat about the Lewis case."

She bristled and took a deep breath. No doubt he had referred to it that way on purpose. She forced a smile onto her face. "I'm sure he'll be back soon if you want to wait."

"I think I will." He smiled smugly as he stood off her desk and he widened his smile before he turned and grabbed an empty chair in the corner. 

She sighed. She turned back to her computer and opened up a document. She stared blankly at it for a minute, then gently eased her other hand into her pocket containing her phone. Trying to be discreet but not too suspicious, she typed out a message to Robbie, warning him not to come back until he had cleaned himself up. 

As much as she felt like a jumble of emotion about him right now, she really didn't want him to go down because they had made a stupid mistake and Atkins was out for his blood. 

She hit send and tried not to feel sick. She managed to check up on, or annoy, CCTV, depending on your perspective, without faltering under his gaze. Nothing new there. 

She was going over the reports for one of her other cases, leaning over Semple's shoulder when Atkins approached her again. 

"I'm due for a meeting with CS Campbell so I'll be back this afternoon for our chat. Let Ross know." He started to turn away. "Oh, and I will be keeping my eye closely on this case." He gave her a pointed look before he left, properly this time. 

"Sometimes I wish I wisnae polis and I could slap folk." Semple didn't look amused at Atkins' antics and despite everything she couldn't help but let out a short chuckle. 

She gave Semple a pat on the shoulder and walked back towards her desk. She organised a couple of interviews for one of her other robbery cases, something just didn't ring true about one of the statements. She was fidgeting too much though, from everything really and she needed to see Robbie. 

It wasn't a good idea though so she threw herself into her work. 

It didn't work and she stopped after she found herself reading the same paragraph for the fourth time. She debated with herself for a minute, then grabbed her bag and left the office. 

She made her way to Robbie's flat. Every set of traffic lights she had to stop at and every hold up in the traffic seemed to make her angrier and by the time she managed to find a space vaguely near his flat she was spitting mad. 

She pushed the lift button far too hard, hissing as her thumb bent the wrong way from the power of it. She got to his door and started knocking, not letting up when he didn't answer the door immediately. 

"Jesus," He shouted as he swung the door open. He looked annoyed and rather large part of her was pleased. 

He relaxed ever so slightly and finished buttoning up his clean shirt. "Jackie, look thanks for the text but,"

She barged past him. "But what?"

He let the door swing shut and he slowly turned to look at her. 

"Don't tell me you didn't need it because,"

"I didn't," he cut her off, indignant.

"Really, because him catching you drunk, reeking of smoke in yesterday's clothes was going to go so well?" She didn't mean to raise her voice as much as she did, but it felt good anyway. 

She watched his fist clench and took a step closer. 

"I wasn't drunk!"

"Really? She asked again, this time with an incredulous snort and his face twisted with anger. 

"I'm just under a hell of a lot of stress just now, and I don't need you adding to it!

"And I'm not?" Her voice raised further, almost a screech and she gestured violently with her hands as she struggled to contain herself. "I'm just as upset and furious about everything, only one best friend is on the other side of the country and the other one is drunk and I'm having to worry about him more than me."

"For the last time, I'm not drunk!" He got out between gritted teeth. 

"Prove it." Her voice was low this time and she took a step forward as if to dare him. 

She saw him tense for a second and he took a step forward, coming toe to toe with her. She had to tilt her head slightly to keep looking him in the eye, intending to keep shouting at him. He took advantage of that and brought his head down and kissed her. 

He reached out and grabbed her hip as he used his tongue to pry his way into her mouth. She let him, only half because she wanted to. 

True enough, she couldn't taste the aftertaste of any drink, just old cigarette smoke. She let the kiss carry on for a moment longer before she brought a hand up to his shoulder and pushed. 

He pulled away. "See?"

"Yeah." It came out more of a whisper than she would of like and she was hyper aware of just how close she was, how his hand still felt on her hip. She was still humming with anger, and everything else and fuck, she just wanted to forget. 

She didn't resist the urge to kiss him again and he let out a surprised humph before he eagerly started kissing her back. His fingers curled deeper into her hip, almost painful, and her own hands landed on his neck, holding him where he was. 

She ground against him and he was just as eager. 

A hand ventured down, and untucked his shirt from his trousers, feeling the skin of his back. He groaned and he shifted his hand from her hip, moved to her backside and squeezed, his other hand cupping the back of her head. The kiss deepened further and her breathing grew heavy. 

He moved his hand from her neck, trying to ease her jacket off her shoulders and she shrugged, giving a groan when she had to move her hands to let it drop to the ground. He pulled her flush with him as soon as the movement was finished and started kissing his way down her neck. Her eyes closed properly and she melted against him as his other hand dipped under the waistband of her trousers. She could feel him getting hard against her stomach and she squeezed his arse, teeth catching his earlobe, he was too busy kissing her neck for her to reach any more. 

He squirmed against her and she bit him again. He bit down on her neck in retaliation and she went for his belt buckle. He took a step forwards, backing her against the back of the couch and trapping her hand. He groaned again and it was her turn to squirm. She hooked a leg behind his knee and wriggled her hand out, going down the back of his waist band instead. She humphed as he tried to push her further back, the edge of the couch digger into her back. She used her weight to shove him forwards, forgetting her leg was hooked around his and she stumbled at the same time he did. They ended up in a heap on the floor and he bit down on her neck and groaned at the sudden landing. 

It didn't stop him from rolling them over so he was on top. She had to shuffle them down slightly, as her head almost clocked one of his cabinets. She pulled his head away from her neck and kissed him deeply again. Her hands starting pulling at his trousers, his doing the same to hers. There was a brief shuffle as she had to lift her hips to let him pull her trousers and knickers down, and then she finally undid his belt and pushed his down. 

It was an awkward angle and she had to kick her clothes down so she could spread her legs enough. He didn't waste time, and stopped grinding against her to quickly enter her. 

She bit his lip as it burned, she wasn't quite ready, and he pulled back slightly to look at her. She pulled him back down instead of answering but his fingers found her clit anyway. 

"That okay?" He asked roughly and she nodded. 

"Just, left a bit," she nodded again as he found the spot she liked, "bit faster," and sighed when he found the right rhythm.

That certainly made things easier and she brought her knees up as much as she could to get a better angle. She could feel her orgasm close in and she dug her nails into Robbie's scalp as his thrusts got faster. 

She came with a gasp and clenched around him. She could feel him follow a minute later and he collapsed on top of her. He took his weight on his elbows after a second, still leaning against her, but not quite so heavily. 

She lay still, letting her breathing slowly return to normal. Robbie was looking at her, and she couldn't help the small smile. 

He smiled softly as well, a real smile and for once she saw him without any of the bravado he normally showed the world. 

His fingers stroked her hip again, easing over where they had dug in earlier. He placed a kiss to her hair and she stroked his back. 

She almost didn't want to move, except the floor wasn't exactly comfy and his laminate floor was cool now that she wasn't distracted. 

She really wasn't sure what to say next, this wasn't what had run through her mind on her way over. 

She went with humour. "Well, that wasn't exactly the way I imagined it."

He pushed himself up onto his arms and grinned cockily at her. "And how did you imagine it?"

She poked him in the ribs and he let out a huff of laughter. 

He rolled off her to lie on the floor beside her and as he slipped out of her, she realised they hadn't used a condom. 

Bugger. She grimaced as she could feel herself leaking. 

Robbie noticed. "I'm clean. I got tested a couple of months ago."

And he hadn't been on any drunken one night stands since then. She nodded. "Just remind me to stop by a chemists."

He nodded and they lapsed into awkward silence. At least she wasn't pissed anymore, she thought.

She cleared her throat. "Ehm, I'll just go and clean up." She felt Robbie nod and she pushed herself up off the floor, stiffer than she would have liked and hell, there really wasn't a dignified way to pull your trousers up and try not to get come on them. 

A glance in the mirror showed at least the mark on her neck was covered by her shirt. One less thing she had to worry about. 

Robbie had straightened up and was in the middle of tying his tie when she came out the bathroom. He nipped in after her and she put her coat back on, at a loss again. 

When he returned, they danced about like a couple of idiots and she felt relieved when the phone rang. 

Duncan. 

Seeing his name was enough to burst the little bubble of avoidance that had formed and she felt the full weight of everything crushing back against her. 

"Duncan,"

"Jackie, good news."

She tensed, almost unable to believe it. 

Duncan must have realised and she could almost hear the smile in his voice when he spoke next. "We managed to find a trace of blood that has a different blood type from Burke. And yes, we have put a rush on the DNA analysis for it."

"Brilliant," She was smiling now and Robbie was looking at her, champing at the bit for her to tell him. "You'll let us know when,"

"When the results are in, yes," He sounded like he was grinning now. 

"Thanks, Duncan," she paused, something suddenly occurring to her. "Where was the blood?"

"It was a small spot under one of his fingernails, seems he did manage to scratch his attacker at least a little."

She nodded, then spoke out loud when it dawned on her she was on the phone. "Okay, thanks again, Duncan."

"Not a problem."

He hung up and Robbie starting speaking as soon as she pulled the phone away from her ear. 

"Well?"

She grinned. "One of the blood spots under his finger nails is a different blood type. Duncan is putting it through DNA analysis now."

Robbie grinned as well and the whole atmosphere changed. "We'd better get back then." He grabbed his suit jacket and shrugged it on as she grabbed her keys. 

\--

Back in the office, they discovered somebody had pinned a print out of the forensics report to the board and the whole office had a bounce in their step as well. She dropped her keys into one of her desk drawers and wandered over to George, Robbie trailing behind her. They were almost managing to act like nothing had happened. 

She leaned against the edge of the desk but before she could open her mouth to speak, George spoke. 

"No luck with any of the possibilities up here. I've double checked but all the likelys have solid alibis, or would have admitted it if it was them. I've gone down further down the list but again,"

"They all had solid alibis." Robbie finished. 

They all sighed. "Right," Jackie stood up straight. "Go take a break for a couple hours." George looked like he was going to protest and Jackie rolled her eyes. "Come back when your eyes have recovered then."

"Aye, okay." 

She nearly bumped into Robbie on her way back to her desk and she glanced up at him briefly but she couldn't look at him directly. She didn't know what to say so she mumbled a sorry and walked past him. 

She ignored him as she sat back down at her desk. She could sense that he wanted to talk but she pulled out her phone instead and checked her messages. 

There weren't any from the hospital and she wasn't sure if that was a relief or not. 

She dialled the ward anyway. 

It was a different nurse who answered this time, but he was just as understanding. 

"No new news yet, Inspector, though the surgery is still ongoing."

"I just wondered, didn't want to miss anything." She could feel herself start to babble and pinched the bridge of her nose. 

"Perfectly understandable, but we will give you a phone call as soon as he is out and we have more details."

She got the implied message loud and clear. "Okay, thank you." She hung up to find Robbie watching it. It took a whole new meaning since, well. 

"He's still in surgery. I got the polite version of don't call us, we'll call you."

He snorted. "Aye," hH looked back at whatever he was focusing on now and didn't say anything else. 

She kept looking at him though, bordering onto staring. She glanced down at her notepad though when he glanced up at her, which only served to make her feel even more ridiculous. She fiddled with her pen as her thoughts jumbled around her head. She hadn't been so confused around him in such a long time, which when she let herself think about it, wasn't really surprising. She had long assumed that they had just settled into best friends who flirted a lot territory. Now that they had crossed that line, especially with everything else being so stressful, everything was in turmoil. 

Jesus, she just hoped that someday they could get back to normal. 

At that point, her phone rang and she had never been so grateful to be saved by a phone call again. 

It was the officer she had spoken to earlier form the Met, a lot quicker than she though possible. He apologised for only phoning with half the pool talked to, but he thought she would want to know. 

She barely had time to process it all as she scribbled down notes. He promised he would have the typed reports sent to her by dinner time but she wanted to get the information down anyway. 

She hung up after thanking him profusely and let out a small smile. 

Robbie looked up at her and looked questioningly at her. 

"The Met have managed to speak to some of his friends. They're alibiing him over the last week in London, but they got the feeling they were lying."

"Can't prove it though."

She shook her head. "No. None of them would talk about if he was out for revenge, or if he'd been planning anything."

"There's a surprise." 

She snorted. "Anyway, they managed to speak to his last cellmate. Seems he couldn't stand Lewis as he'd been bullying him. That and the fact he's scared of his own shadow meant he was happy to talk when pushed." Robbie looked expectantly at her and she carried on. "He said that Lewis talked about getting his own back on Burke after his brother died. Talked about it enough that he could remember Burke's name."

"Any thing else?"

She shook her head. "It seems he quietened down about it as his release date got closer." 

"Planning to make himself look better." Robbie frowned and she heard him swear under his breath. "Seems like he did an awful lot of planning for this."

"Yeah." They fell silent, and she wasn't sure if she was reassured by how long he had been planning on making fools of them or not. 

She didn't really have time to ponder it as she saw Robbie sit up straight and tense up. She found out why a second later when Atkins spoke. 

"Glad you're both here now."

"Atkins." Robbie ground out and she closed her eyes briefly. She took a deep breath and fired a warning glance at Robbie. He glanced at her, and nodded imperceptibly. "Heard you wanted a chat." He forced himself to relax, leaning back in his chair, and if she didn't know him so well, she might be fooled. 

She swirled in her chair slightly to get a better look at Atkins. He wasn't quite as smug as he had been that morning. She wondered exactly what his meeting with Campbell had been about. 

"Why don't we use Burke's office? It's not as if he is just now." He smiled tightly and that just got her back up. 

She deliberately didn't look at Robbie, she was sure they would only cause each other's anger to ratchet up a level. 

She shut the door behind them, closing out the curious stares of half the office. 

Atkins sat in Burke's chair, and it left a sour taste in her mouth. 

She knew that was the point. Everything he was doing was designed to through them off balance just enough to lower their guard. 

Did he honestly think they wouldn't see through it? They'd both done it themselves with suspects plenty of times before. 

She took a deep breath and plastered on a smile. Robbie stood stock still. 

"Your work yesterday, Ross was incredibly sloppy, yours too Inspector Reid. One would almost think the incompetence and misconduct was contagious. I would get out of this unit while I still could." He smiled as if he was trying to be helpful.

She could tell he was trying to rile them both, and it was almost working. She didn't put a hand out to calm Robbie like would normally have, Atkins would have taken that as a sign of weakness and carefully taken note of it. 

"If, and I say if, Lewis is your man, then you need to be much more careful around him. We wouldn't want him getting away with it because of your incompetence."

He was beginning to sound a bit like a cartoon villain, too slimy to manage threatening, too eager to put Robbie out to pasture to be giving them a helpful warning. She clamped down the thought, laughing at him would just make things worse and, cartoon villain or not, he could make things very difficult for them. 

Beside her, she could hear Robbie grit his teeth but he managed to hold himself back from whatever he was going to say. 

Atkins smiled as he noticed. She thought he was going to say something else but he stood and perched on the edge of the desk instead. "You're both incredibly fortunate that no complaint has been lodged yet." 

She relaxed slightly and immediately realised why he was trying to put them on edge so much. Without an actual compliant, or without being brought in by one of the higher ups, his powers to investigate them were somewhat limited. It seemed Campbell was still giving them the benefit of the doubt. 

It seemed like he had just thought it would be a good time to rattle their cages and carry on his grudge against Robbie. She stood straighter, suddenly as it was harder to hold back.

Robbie straightened as well. "Is that all?" He managed to sound remarkably calm. 

Atkins raised an eyebrow. "I'm usually wary of officers that eager to be rid of me."

"Well, we do have an investigation to run, and if there is no complaint…" She trailed off, her voice and eyebrow arched. It was a hair away from insubordination towards a superior officer, but it was also perfectly true.

Atkins picked up his briefcase and gave them both a tight smile. "Make sure the conviction will stick. If you make it that far." He warned, obviously trying for threatening, then he swooped out the office into the corridor. 

She felt a little deflated, though impressed they had both managed to keep their cool. 

"Slimy wee bastard." Robbie muttered and his fists were clenched. 

Well, cool for the most part. They stood for a minute until they could hear the buzz of the office take up again through the open doorway and she was aware of the glances being sent their way. She led the way out and quipped at Turner. "We live to fight another day," 

He chuckled and the tension in the room broke. He handed her a report and she glanced over at it. The idiot they had caught earlier in the week hadn't been granted bail. She grinned and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Good work."

He grinned widely and turned back to his work, the tips of his ears turning a little pink. 

She had to bite back a chuckle. 

The rise in her mood lasted exactly as long as it took her phone to ring and her to recognise the number as the hospitals. 

"Reid." She tried to brace herself for the worst.

"Good news, Inspector." It was the same nurse as earlier, though she had forgotten his name.

"He's out?" Robbie stared at her.

"Yes, and he's stable at the moment. The surgeon is optimistic."

She grinned again and she could see Robbie relax. 

"That's good news. Will he," she had to pause, "will he relapse?"

"The surgeon doesn't think so, took some extra time to make sure he got all the sources of bleeding."

"All right, what about visiting?" She felt the need to make reassure herself he was still alive.

"Not until tomorrow evening at the earliest. He needs rest to recover."

"All right thank you."

"I would wait until mid-morning before phoning back to check, the doctor will have done his rounds by then."

Chastened she thanked him again and hung up.

She slumped in her chair, and winced slightly as her back protested. Robbie shot her a concerned look but she shrugged off.

She sat for a minute, feeling drained again, but much easier now he was out of surgery. She looked at Robbie as he stood and headed off but she turned back to her desk. She gave a sigh as she stood and walked across to the board. 

There had been a couple of things scored through since the last time she had looked, mainly through the names of both the train stations. She gathered CCTV there had been a bust but she wanted to double check. First thing she would do after she updated Burke's status on the board. 

There was a general sense of relief when she put the words up and she turned round to find Robbie holding out a cup of coffee at her. 

He looked rather apologetic and she smiled softly as she took the cup off him. She took a sip as he looked over the board. 

"Check on the CCTV next?" 

She nodded. 

She didn't have to move at all though, as PC Lowry pushed open the doors, grinning widely and practically bouncing. 

"I think I've got him!"

Her eyes widened and she could see the look of surprise on Robbie's face as they both turned and looked at PC Lowry. She put her coffee down on the nearest surface and they all but ran through to the room set up with all the monitors. 

They leaned over to the screen Lowry settled at and stared at the frozen footage. 

It was Lewis, bustled in amongst a crowd. 

Lowry had printed off a still and she grabbed it to look closer, Robbie standing right beside her. The image was a little fuzzy but it was definitely Lewis' features. 

"When?"

"Just after seven am on the morning of the attack, most likely just off the London bus." 

She nodded. "Brilliant." 

She glanced at the image though. It was a little fuzzy for her liking and she could imagine all too clearly Silvers accusing them of wishful thinking, that it could be anyone with a similar build. 

Robbie opened his mouth to speak, but the same queasy feeling settled on his face. She glanced at her watch. There was just enough time to get the footage over to the lab before they closed for the night. 

She made a calculation, more than likely it would be the morning before they had cleaner stills back. 

"Get the footage to the lab, I want enhanced stills back. Not going to let him weasel his way out of this."

Lowry looked a little taken aback at the vehemence at which she said it so she tried to soften it with a smile. "Get multiple copies made, I want the picture of him to be crystal clear, no doubt that it's actually him." Lowry nodded in understanding, obviously having heard about yesterdays run in. 

"Then take a break. That goes for all of you." She raised her voice slightly to take in the other two PC's in the room. 

"Don't look so happy, we need his further movements as far as can be tracked after that. We need to know when he went back down to London as well." Robbie added and the PC's took it with minimal groaning. 

The PC's filed out, leaving them alone. She was too busy feeling ecstatic to feel awkward. She could feel the spring in her step as they headed into the main office. 

"We'll need to update Campbell." She said and Robbie nodded. 

While he phoned Alise to see when Campbell was free, she printed off another copy of the still and stuck it to the board. 

She turned back to talk to Robbie. 

"Last thing, she's still got a couple of late meetings to go."

She nodded and stared some more at the photo. 

"I really want to pick him up now and make him sweat." He was staring at the board intently.

"I know but after yesterday." She hated to break the mood but it had to be done. 

"Aye, I don't want the bastard slipping away again." He ran a hand through his hair. "I checked earlier and he's still in his hotel. Booked the lunchtime train home."

"Well that gives us time to get the enhanced stills and maybe DNA if we are lucky, before we pick him up."

"I'd like to see Silvers get him out of that one." 

"Assuming the DNA is his." She had the sudden fear that things were progressing far too well and given the last couple of days, she was weary of that.

Robbie groaned. "Don't start with the doubts. We've broken his alibi, his motive is the strongest and we don't have another suspect." He was getting angry again. 

"I know, I know, I'm just waiting on the other shoe to drop." He relaxed and nodded.

"C'mon, I'll buy you something to eat, stop you being so cranky."

"Oh, thanks."

\--

Something to eat turned out to be a sandwich left in the vending machine. Fortunately she didn't mind cheese and onion. 

She didn't know why she kept expecting anything better from Robbie. He had shown plenty of times over the years that his version of good food varied from hers. The only reason she hadn't protested was that both of them were loath to leave, feeling on the verge of a breakthrough, despite the fact they were waiting on results. Besides, it still would likely to have been the chippy or the burger van round the corner. 

She looked down at her sandwich and sighed. It suddenly seemed drier than it had been. Robbie glanced at her. 

She shrugged off again, though it took him longer this time to glance away. She'd somehow managed to put what they had done to the back of her mind while there had been breakthroughs and good news, though it seemed impossible to ignore it now.

Fuck. That had been incredibly stupid of them, of her really and what the hell was she going to do now? 

She tried to keep chewing but she was feeling super aware of where Robbie was sitting beside her and she felt like every time she shifted on the chair she was bumping into him. He glanced at her again, half concerned, half something else she really didn't want to think about just now. 

Jesus, he'd looked at her like that earlier afterwards, she cut the thought off and she felt like her cheeks had gone scarlet. She was a grown woman for god's sake and he was one of her best friends. 

She forced herself to take another bite of her sandwich. She knew she should cut the atmosphere with some sort of remark, but she was too wound up in knots to think of anything. 

She'd though she was long past Robbie managing to get her into this sort of state. 

She flicked her eyes to glance over Robbie quickly and the only positive from it was that he looked at muddled as she felt. 

The awkward silence continued and only the fact the Robbie was lost for words as well made it somewhat tolerable. 

Mita stuck her head into the kitchen, grin on her face. 

Her happiness was contagious. "Good result then?" Robbie asked before she could. 

Mita nodded. "Guilty!" She got herself a bottle of juice from one of the machines. After little deliberation she turned back to them. "I heard you had a break through."

Jackie nodded. "Broke his alibi and we got a result off the forensics. Still waiting on DNA though."

"That's great! So why to the pair of you look miserable?"

Jackie nearly dropped her sandwich. She didn't think they were that obvious. She aimed for casual and shrugged her shoulders. "Long day," She replied, only Robbie spoke at the same time. 

"Atkins."

Mita looked slightly amused as she looked between them both, though still curious. 

"Congratulations on the case," She told Mita, who gave her a quick look, aware of the subject change but willing to go along with it. 

"Thanks,"

Robbie stood. "I need to go check a few things." He strode out and left them alone. 

They both stared after him, then Mita turned and raised an eyebrow at Jackie. 

Jackie shook her head. "It really has been a long day. They had to take him back into surgery, and we had a bit of an argument." A bit of an understatement but she didn't want to go into details. 

Mita accepted that, and Jackie was reminded of exactly why she liked her so much. 

"We're just waiting on a few results and we're going to pick Lewis up in the morning. Less chance of him managing to get the better of us then. Hopefully anyway," She added after a seconds pause. 

She looked at Mita, who seemed to be eager to get back to business. "Spend an hour or so getting up to speed, then go home, out, whatever to get off the court high, then come back bright and early tomorrow to help out with Lewis."

"Are you sure?"

Jackie nodded. "We're just waiting for things to slot into place now, not much you can do tonight."

"Okay." Mita stood, and looked once more at Jackie. She seemed to think the better of asking her if she was all right again and headed back to the office. 

Jackie sighed into the now empty room. She took a deep breath and headed back to the office herself. 

\--

She checked her email as she waited for Campbell to be ready to see them. True enough, an officer at the Met had sent her a typed copy of the interview reports. It basically confirmed what they had said on the phone earlier, though there had been a few more associates interviewed since then. Aside from his cellmate, they had all said the same thing.

Alise waved them into the office before she could say anything to Robbie though. 

Campbell was packing her bag, clearly nearly finished for the night. It was a bit of a jolt to see it was now after eight pm. She forgot sometimes, how time could blend together when they were working. 

"I take it there is a positive update, since neither of you look nearly as tense as yesterday?"

Jackie smiled briefly. "No, Ma'am. We've had a couple of breakthroughs."

"First of all, is Matt all right? I heard something about going back into surgery." Campbell did look concerned and Jackie was reminded that for all Campbell could be a bit of a number cruncher at times, she was still a good boss. 

"He had some internal bleeding but he came through the surgery. Doc's seem hopeful." Robbie answered. 

"Good." Campbell stopped packing and stood still. "So, breakthroughs?"

"Forensics found a trace of someone else's blood on Burke and are currently analysing it for DNA. We should have the results sometime tomorrow."

Campbell nodded. "Anything specific about Lewis? I don't want to have another run in with Silvers if we can help it."

Robbie nodded and handed the CCTV still from earlier over. Campbell raised an eyebrow.

"It's footage from Buchanan Bus station on the morning of the attack. We've managed to break his alibi."

"Excellent." She smiled at them both. "What's you're next step?"

"We're having the footage enhanced, we don't want Silvers claiming it's just a look a like. He's booked on the train to London tomorrow lunch time,"

"So we're going to sit on him and pick him up when he leaves his hotel." Robbie took over. 

"It's a bit risky him staying for so long, don't you think?" Campbell was frowning slightly.

"He's overconfident, especially after yesterday." As much as she hated to admit it, they probably had increased his confidence in not getting caught. 

Campbell accepted the answer and nodded. "Good job, both of you."

"Thank you, Ma'am," they both chorused and they accepted the dismissal and headed back out. 

The silence on the walk back to the office was awkward but she was too wound up to do anything about it.

She glanced at the board again. "The email from the Met came through. Confirms the phone call from earlier."

Robbie nodded and the fell into the bloody awkward silence again. 

"Did you phone Stephen?" It suddenly dawned on her that after that argument, she hadn't asked if he had. 

"Yeah, he didn't say much, but I didn't really expect him to." Robbie sighed. "I don't think he knew what to think so I just left him my number if he wanted to talk."

She nodded her understanding, then looked closely at him. It had clearly hit home. "Have you spoken to Jamie lately?" She asked softly.

He shook his head. "Nah, I just don't know what to say. He's enjoying himself and I just," he trailed off and shrugged his shoulders when he couldn't seem to find the words. She squeezed his arm gently and he smiled weakly at her. 

They fell quiet again, not nearly so awkward this time though. The office bustled around them and it was somewhat comforting. 

"Look, Jackie," Robbie spoke first and he curved himself towards her, standing incredibly close again. Normally it wouldn't be a problem but she flashed back to earlier, and his face had a more office friendly version of the open expression it had earlier. 

She wasn't sure if she could cope with it.

He blew out a breath and she had to stop whatever he was going to say before someone got hurt.

"Robbie, I can't, not at the moment." She could see him start to close down and bugger it, that wasn't what she wanted. "I'm just such a jumble at the moment," She gestured with her hands to demonstrate, which brought a small smile to his lips. "You know what we've been like the last couple of days. I don't want to add to the jumble and risk snapping someone's head off or doing something irreparable."

He chuckled softly. "Aye, you're right, you're always right. Besides, it would probably be my head." He brushed his hand against hers, surprisingly sweetly, to show he did really understand. It almost made her weaken because there was nothing more she would like to do than go home and cuddle up with him. He pulled back and started putting his jacket on. 

"I'm going to stop by the chippy, get something decent to eat, want anything?"

She couldn't help but laugh at that, far louder than she wanted, causing a few heads to glance her way. There might have been a touch of the hysterics about the laughter. 

"What?" He looked bewildered. 

She shook her head. "Nothing. I'll see you in the morning."

He nodded, still looking a little confused but he left her alone anyway. 

She grabbed her jacket and keys and arrived at her car not long after she saw him walk down the street.

\--

She kicked her shoes off as soon as she got in the door and put the kettle on. 

Cup of tea in hand, she wandered through to the living room and stood staring at her DVD collection, feeling something like a loose end. She wasn't used to being at home this early at night when they were in the middle of a case. 

Logically she knew it was better to wait at home and at least get some rest than fidget down the station and end up annoying everyone. 

She flicked on the TV, nothing in her collection taking her fancy. She ended up channel surfing as she drank her tea. Hell, she couldn't sit still and she wasn't sure if it was because her emotions were still one giant jumble, or because she was waiting, especially this close to resolution. It didn't help that she was achy and thinking about it kept making her think back to his flat.

What exactly had she been thinking of? And the floor? She threw her head back against the back of the couch and let out a groan. She wasn't going to think about it, she wasn't. It would just get her more wound up and that was the last thing she needed.

She stood up suddenly and headed towards her fridge. She needed a drink. 

It wasn't until she had her head stuck in the fridge that she remembered she'd drank the last of the wine and hadn't bought more. She shut the door and leaned her forehead against it. Probably for the best, she really shouldn't be drinking when she was this desperate. 

She managed to push herself off the fridge and rummaged in her cupboards instead. She put together a jam piece and slowly ate it. Hopefully the food would settle her down. 

Only it didn't and she found herself flicking through the channels again, as she threw the book she was reading to the side because she'd just gotten to a sex scene and she really didn’t need that at the moment. 

She turned the TV off in disgust and the flat fell silent. She wasn't sure what else to do, or even if doing anything would make this knot of tension better. She didn't want to call Robbie and have him distract her because that was partly what got her in this state in the first place. 

She sighed and then she remembered the aromatherapy kit one of her sisters-in-law had got her jokingly. She stared at the packaging. The bath oil promised to relax and soothe. She shrugged her shoulders. She didn't really have much to lose at this point and the hot bath alone would help ease her aches at least. 

She poured it into the running water, grateful at least that the hot water was working and still hot. She slipped into the water slowly, hissing as the hot water stung her skin. She gritted her teeth for a minute until it settled down and she lay back, submerging most of her body underneath the bubbles. 

The harsher sting at her genitals was just another reminder of what they had done. Shagged, she thought, she couldn't keep making it sound as if they had something else. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to make her mind go blank. 

It wasn't really working. She ended up playing with the bubbles in a bid to distract herself. She shifted and she could still feel the ache between her legs. Anyone would think she hadn't had sex in ages. 

As much as she tried, she couldn't quite bring herself to regret it, despite how complicated it was making things between her and Robbie. She trusted their friendship enough to know that things would eventually settle down, at least once this case was over and Burke was up and about again. 

She groaned and clunked her head back against the edge of the bath as she realised she hadn't stopped by a chemists. Bugger. She would need to do it on her way in in the morning. 

That definitely took away the last hope the bath had of being relaxing. The water was still hot though, so she lay there and let it work on her aches, trying not to get herself too tied up in knots again. 

She stayed until the water started to cool and then she pulled the plug. 

She dried herself off, feeling drained, probably from the heat and the fact that she had stood still long enough for the last couple of days to catch up with her. 

She stumbled through to her bed room and plugged her phone into charge, and only just managed to remember to set up a reminder to go to the chemists in the morning. 

She fell into bed, and lacked the energy to toss and turn and simply stared at the ceiling instead. 

\--

**Wednesday**

She must have fallen asleep though as the next thing she was aware, light was shining in the curtains she had forgotten to close last night. 

She moved to push the quilt back and stopped. She felt like she had been hit by a bus. She wasn't entirely sure if it was from the sex or the run from the day before. Either way, she lay perfectly still, trying to will herself into getting up. 

God, she really needed to be more careful. She sighed.

It was just the sort of morning where she would have been more than happy to just stay were she was and curl up with a book or just doze but no, she needed to go in. Only the fact that they were so close and that there was a good chance it would all be resolved today managed to get her to overcome the stiffness and actually get out of bed. 

She worked on the theory that if she stopped she wouldn't get started again so she got dressed and ready in quick time. 

She was out the door before eight and fortunately Boots was open early in the mornings. The assistant behind the counter kept a blank expression as she bought the morning after pill. She sat back in the car, staring at it. She jolted out of her thoughts when a car horn sound and she looked around and saw someone impatient for her parking space. 

She muttered under her breath and hastily swallowed the pill. She didn't resist the urge to pull a face at him when she reversed neatly out of the space.  
Robbie was in before her and she smiled briefly in greeting. He looked better this morning, as if he had actually managed to get some sleep last night. 

She almost felt guilty for the sense of relief that that would be one less thing to deal with. She glanced down at the report on the state of the CCTV footage trawling. 

He spoke first. "Just off the phone to the lab, they're run the footage over night, just finishing it off now."

She nodded. "I'll try Duncan."

She could hear the exhaustion in his voice as he explained they weren't back yet and the exasperation when he said he would let them know as soon as they were. She had to laugh when he compared her to Burke, the comparison not stinging like it would have done a couple of years ago or coming from someone else. 

Robbie glanced at her when he heard her laugh. She shook her head, then hung up. "Not yet. He'll let us know when." He looked askance at her for a second then shook his head slightly. 

"C'mon," he kept clicking his mouse and as she walked around the desks to stand beside him, she saw he was refreshing his email inbox. 

"Yes," he exclaimed and she leaned down to get a proper look. 

It seemed to take an age for the pictures to load, but eventually there it was, Lewis in crystal clear glory. There was no denying it this time. 

They exchanged a grin and Robbie hit print. He stuck a copy to the board as Mita walked in. 

Mita looked hopeful when she saw their expressions. "Good news."

Jackie grinned. "Enhanced images just came back. There's no denying it's Lewis now."

"And the CCTV footage of him heading back down." 

Jackie shook her head. "Not yet, but they managed to track him through the city centre, and he definitely didn't get on the evening bus down to London."

"So he was definitely up here the time of the attack." Mita looked as pleased as Jackie felt. 

Jackie nodded. "Yeah."

"Brilliant."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Keep an eye on the CCTV and check up on the hotel's nearby where he was spotted. We've sent a couple of officers round but nothing concrete. If we could get a witness to where he was staying, that would top it off."

Mita took out her notepad. "Does he have any friends or relatives in Glasgow?"

Jackie shook her head. "Not according to the background information we've dug up, but it might do well to check out if his friends in London do." 

Mita nodded. "Okay, I'll go and get started." She said as Robbie joined them.

"We're going to go wait outside his hotel to pick him up. Don't want him slipping away from us."

She grabbed her car keys and there was a brief eye fight over who was driving. 

He won. 

\--

She should have brought another cup of coffee with her, or at least a packet of crisps, anything really to give her something to do. They'd been sitting here for half an hour already and they hadn't seen Lewis and they had managed to exhaust their light hearted small talk. The silence wasn't as awkward as it could have been, not with them focused on watching the door, but she was still completely aware that they were avoiding talking about what had happened yesterday and anything remotely connected with their feelings. 

It was just as well they had been friends for so long, otherwise she would have thought the awkwardness was one-sided and felt guilty about it. 

She sighed and shifted herself in the car seat. Robbie glanced at her quickly. 

"You all right?" 

Another sign they were getting old: he openly showed concern rather than tease her about being bored. She tried not to think too much about that. 

"Just thinking about another cup of coffee."

He snorted and slumped lower into his seat. "I've had so much coffee the last couple of days, I think I've gone off it."

"You say that every case." 

He didn't answer and she didn't care as they both sat up straight. "Here we go." Lewis had left the main door of the hotel and was sauntering down the steps to the pavement. 

They both got out the car quickly, and she heard Robbie beep the car locked as they dodged the traffic on the way across the road. 

"Mr Lewis," She called out as they caught up with him. 

Lewis turned around to face them and grinned. "Inspector Reid, Inspector Ross. How can I help today?" He radiated smugness. 

She managed a smug grin of her own as Robbie circled behind him and started reading Lewis his rights. The smug look on Lewis' face dropped for a second as the handcuffs went on, and he winced as Robbie was obviously a little rough with them. 

It returned, though she could tell he wasn't quite as confident. It seemed he hadn't expected to get arrested. Well, that was interesting. 

They didn't say anything else as they navigated their way back across the road, and Lewis was quiet until they shoved him in the back of the car. 

She sat beside him in the back, and she caught sight of Robbie's expression in the rear-view mirror before he blanked it from his face. 

There was a reason she'd let him drive after all. 

They stayed quiet on the ride to the station, Robbie taking the quickest route possible, despite Lewis trying to wind them up. She had to force herself to breath evenly and she could see Robbie's knuckles turn white on the steering wheel.

It was something of a relief to hand him over to the Custody Sergeant, and it send a jolt of pleasure to see his face drop as he realised they were letting him stew in the cells while he waited for Silvers to arrive. 

They headed to the kitchen while they waited. They really needed to get control of themselves before the interview and they needed a little more quiet than the office gave to work on that. 

They sipped their tea in silence but she put her cup down when it was half empty. 

"We need to talk about what we are going to do in the interview."

"How about to you stick to the talking and I'll stand there looking threatening."

She snorted. "Yeah, because that' going to go down well with Silvers."

He rubbed his face. "Well, you'd better stick with the questions anyway, since you're the one who manages to stay calm."

She shrugged at that. "No more rising to the bait then?"

"Easier said than done." He slammed his empty cup down. 

"Just remember the evidence is stacking up, we don't need you to go all he-man on him," She said the last part dryly, only to be distracted from his reaction by her phone ringing. 

"DI Reid."

"Inspector," Another one of the nurses and her anxiety kicked up a notch. "Don't worry, it's good news." She let out a breath. "He had a good night and the Doctor is pleased with his progress. He is showing signs of being asleep now rather unconscious."

"That's brilliant."

"The Doctor has relaxed the visitor restrictions, so if you or Inspector Ross want to pop in for five minutes in the afternoon, that would be okay."

"Thank you."

She hung up and Robbie relaxed when she told him. 

"Bout time," He stood straighter. "Right, we go in, we lay it out, we've broken his alibi, Burke is on the verge of waking up and we've got DNA evidence."

"Yeah, we'll just need to be a bit creative about how much DNA we've actually got."

Robbie shrugged. "We've done it before and it's not like the results won't be in soon enough."

"I'm just worried it's going to well."

"Stop worrying Jackie, it'll be fine."

"I'd still rather wait until the results are in."

Robbie sighed but he didn't say anything. He didn't have a chance either. 

"Jackie, Robbie," Mita walked in, on hand keeping the door propped open. "Lewis' lawyer is here. What do you want done?"

"Put him in room three and have somebody bring Lewis up in about," she glanced at her watch, "fifteen minutes."

Mita nodded and started to leave as Robbie's phone began to buzz

"Did you have any luck with his movements?" Jackie asked as Robbie answered his phone. 

Mita looked back at them and shook her head. "Still trawling through the footage and the family members of friends. I've been trying hotels but,"

"It's Glasgow city centre," Jackie finished glumly. "Keep at it, the more evidence the better." Mita nodded and Jackie let her leave this time. 

She turned back to Robbie as he thanked Duncan. He was grinning. 

She didn't even have to ask before he spoke. 

"DNA is a match to Lewis."

She grinned along with him. Perfect. The niggling worries she had vanished and she could feel herself champ at the bit, eager to get started and the whole thing done with now. 

She rinsed out her mug and they practically bounced back into the office. There was a slight pause as Robbie printed out copies of the forensics report, adding a copy to the CCTV pictures, and handing her one to pin to the board. 

He was every bit as eager as she was and they fussed about, passing the time until Lewis had a chance to speak to Silvers. 

She paused outside the interview room and took a deep breath. Robbie looked at her strangely. 

"I just don't want to get too excited and give Lewis a reason to get this thrown out."

He sobered almost immediately. "Aye," He ran a hand through his hair and she could see him try to relax. "We'll stick with the plan though."

She nodded and took one last deep breath and opened the door. 

"Mr Lewis, Mr Silvers." She smiled politely at both men as she put the folder of evidence down on the desk. Robbie started the tape as she sat down. 

Silvers waited until they were organised then started protesting. "This is verging on police harassment. My client has a solid alibi and there is no need for this continued investigation."

Robbie stayed quiet and she pulled the CCTV still out and laid it down in front of Lewis. 

"Can you confirm this is you, Mr Lewis?" She stayed perfectly polite, though it was hard to fight the smile when Lewis and Silvers looked at each other. 

"Yes, looks like me." Lewis looked a little unsure. 

"So you've got a picture of my client. What is so special about it?"

Robbie spoke, and he sounded remarkably even. "Just the fact that it was taken in Buchanan Bus Station on the morning of the attack on DCI Burke, and blows your client's alibi straight out the water."

Silvers glanced at Lewis before straightening and beginning again. "Footage that can easily be faked by police out on a witch hunt."

She went for the polite smile again and looked at Lewis. He was definitely paler, definitely hadn't thought they would catch him out on that. 

"There is the testimony from one of his cell mates that he was planning his revenge on Burke. As well as the fact he has been messing around with us, lying to us. I don’t think that will look to good in court, will it?" She looked pointedly at Silvers as she spoke.

"No, not really." Robbie answered for Silvers. 

Lewis looked as if he was regaining some of his confidence. "Wee Charlie? He's scared of his own shadow. Could be convinced to say anything."

Silvers was looking just a smug, though that was an occupational hazard with him. 

"So you're not going to confess then? For real this time?"

"Quite frankly, there is nothing here that would convince anyone, let alone a jury that Mr Lewis was guilty."

She had worked opposite Silvers enough to know when the starts were starting to appear and she could see it now. He was slightly less confident and bluffing them. 

She glanced at Robbie and he nodded slightly. Might as well go ahead, the evidence was all going to come out anyway. 

"Juries do tend to be swayed by DNA evidence though." She pulled out the report. "Your blood was found under his fingernails. Probably from that scratch on your wrist." She tilted her head as Lewis pulled his cuff down to cover the almost completely healed scratch on his wrist. 

"We took photos when we brought you in. No point in hiding it." Robbie said and she could hear the smile he was repressing. 

"It's just an old scratch." Lewis looked no where near as cocky, even a little pale. 

Silvers shook his head. "I need a moment to talk to my client in private."

She and Robbie exchanged a glance and she nodded. Robbie stopped the tape and they waited outside the door. 

She didn't say anything, she might not be able to contain herself if she did. Robbie appeared to feel the same way and they stood in comfortable silence. 

Silvers opened the door. "We're ready to talk."

They got set up again and like before, Silvers spoke first. "Mr Lewis is prepared to admit to the assault charge." 

Robbie snorted. "Not a chance. Attempted Murder."

"It was definitely not, and you don't have the evidence to back that charge up."

"Did you wear a mask?" Silvers looked a little bemused at her sudden, apparent change of topic. 

He shook his head and Lewis didn't answer. "Only DCI Burke is in the process of waking up. When he wakes up and tells the jury it was your face he saw, do you honestly think they won't know you went to his flat with the intention of murdering him? After all, who goes to all the bother of planning an attack like that and letting the victim live to see his face?"

Lewis visibly deflated and Silvers looked grudgingly impressed at her. 

"All right, all right." Lewis sounded utterly defeated and only years of practise stopped her for dancing for joy. 

She let the smug smile loose though. "We'll start with a statement then…"

\--

Everyone in the office was chatting, laughing, crime generally forgotten for the moment. The news had already reached the office by the time they had arrived after updating Campbell. There had been claps on the back, and gently mocking of what took them so long. 

Everyone slowly got back to work, the calls didn't stop coming after all, and they were too drained from it all. The high of getting a proper confession and getting him thoroughly hadn't lasted long and before too long, they found themselves slumped on the edge of his desk, everyone else back at work. 

She still wasn't entirely sure what to say to him so she put the conversation they really needed to have off further. 

"I'll drive if you nip in and get us a sandwich."

He smiled, he knew what she was doing, but nodded anyway. "Not annoyed nurses in a while. It'll be a laugh."

She rolled her eyes.

\--

The nurse tapped her watch to remind them that the visit was still restricted, and then left them alone. 

It wasn't such a shock to see him this time, though if anything Burke looked worse, some of the bruises starting to yellow and the evidence of the second surgery clearly visible. Beside her, she heard Robbie's harsh intake of breath and it suddenly occurred to her that she had only assumed he'd come to visit, that she hadn't actually asked him. 

She left it, it wasn't worth the bother it would cause. 

They were quiet, just listening to the beep of the heart monitor and it would have been creepy if they weren't so worried about him. His leg twitched slightly and she never thought she would be so glad to see that. 

"You think we should talk to him if he's just asleep?" Robbie sounded suspiciously hoarse when he spoke. 

She didn't look at him as she wiped her own eyes. "Nah, wouldn't want to give him nightmares."

Robbie snorted softly and the tension eased a little. They jerked around when the door opened again. 

It was the same nurse from earlier and all she had to do was raise an eyebrow. She did add that they would phone as soon as Burke woke up and that they could have a longer visit tomorrow, assuming the doctor approved. 

Contrary to what he said earlier, Robbie didn't wind any of the nurses up and they made it out the building quickly. 

She paused with her keys in the ignition. If Robbie hadn't been in the car, she would have probably started crying just from the relief of it all. 

"Look," Robbie's voice was surprisingly gentle. "Come back to mine, we'll get a proper dinner and we can catch a crappy film. I'll even let you pick."

She looked askance at him. 

He sighed. "I'm not trying anything, Jackie, I just," he paused for thought, "we both need to unwind and normally I'd buy you a drink after a case like this," he trailed off. 

It was her turn to sigh. Dinner and sprawling on the couch sounded appealing but sooner or later they would have to deal with the elephant in the room. At the moment she would rather it was later. 

Possibly against her better judgement she nodded and started the car. 

\--

The lift ride up to his flat started to get a little awkward and she flushed as she waited for him to unlock the door. She paused in the doorway, feeling a little hesitant after last time. 

Robbie turned to look at her when he realised she hadn't followed. "Can't have been that bad was it?" He said jokingly but the undercurrent of hurt got her moving. 

"Nah, just thinking you'd have been better off with carpets."

He laughed. "Thinking about another round?" He smirked but it dropped immediately. "Sorry, Jackie, I," he blew out a deep breath. 

She was glad when he turned around and made for the kitchen area, letting the knot in her stomach unwind. 

He started rummaging in his freezer and she walked over to the large plate glass window, and looked out over the city centre. 

It was a stunning view and she watched the traffic on the streets below. Robbie jarred her out of her thoughts with, "Lasagne okay?"

"Only if it's not homemade."

She could hear his snort and smiled a little. He went back to faffing about and she could hear him tearing the packaging. 

She watched as a bin motor emptied bins in the next street over, and had visions of reading Lewis' statement again. The planning he had put into it, buying the plain black clothing and gloves over a period of time in London, then dropping them in various bins in the City centre once he had left Burke for dead. 

She shook the thoughts out of her head and slipped her phone out of her pocket. 

Mita answered on fourth ring. 

"Jackie, I wasn't expecting to hear from you today."

Oh, you know me, can't drag myself away from the job." Her tone was wry and Mita gave a huff of laughter. "Just checking on how his statement checks out."

"The details have matched up so far. The report will be on your desk in the morning." 

"Well,"

"Jackie, I don't mean to be rude, but you need to take the rest of the day off. Everything can wait until tomorrow morning."

"Mita," 

"Look," Mita wasn't having an objections and she would have found it amusing had it not been directed at her. Mita lowered her voice as she carried on. "I know this case hasn't been easy for you or Robbie, so just let the rest of us tidy up the loose ends and come back in tomorrow when your feeling refreshed."

She was speechless for a minute. "You're turning into an opinionated sergeant, you know that?"

"I did have a good teacher." Jackie could hear the smile in Mita's voice.

"I'll let you away with it then." She was smiling slightly herself now. "Thank you, Mita,"

"It's not a problem." 

She hung up and turned around to face Robbie. 

The microwave was running, and he'd set the table. There were even plates. 

"I take it lasagne doesn't come with its own plate then?"

He pulled another face and she couldn't help the small giggle that managed to escape. It certainly eased the atmosphere and she shrugged her jacket off and went to see what he had to drink. 

She settled on a can of Irn-Bru from the fridge and they teased each other lightly as he took the lasagne from the microwave and served it up. 

They ate mostly in silence, both of them hungry after they way they had been eating haphazardly for most of the last week.

He even tidied up afterwards, which she had to raise an eyebrow at, but it was a relief to know he was just as nervous and unsure as she was. 

He gestured towards the TV. "You pick what ever and I'll go phone Stuart, let him know."

She nodded and picked up the handset. She heard him greet Stuart and then he moved into his bedroom. 

She stared at the closed door for a minute and then rolled her eyes. Clearly he wasn't just going to talk to Stuart about the case. 

She sighed as she wished she had thought of it first. No doubt Stuart would be on the phone to her first thing anyway. 

She hummed and hawed over his collection of films and the guide on his Sky box. She eventually settled on Die Hard, and got the film to the beginning, then sat curled up on the sofa, shoes slipped off and lying neatly beside her. 

She startled to wriggle the longer Robbie took. After what felt like an hour, he finally came out and nodded at her. 

"Stuart says hi and he'll phone you in the morning."

She raised an eyebrow for further detail but that was all he said. 

He settled down on the other end of the couch and she pressed play. 

They sat in silence again, though she could feel it get awkward again, especially when Robbie started tapping the arm rest. 

She gave up and pressed pause. There was no use in putting off talking about them any longer. 

"Look," she lost her nerve and bit her lip. Robbie looked at her, looking incredibly unsure and that wasn't helping either. She took a deep breath and steeled herself. "You're one of my best friends and I don't want things to get awkward."

"Neither do I, Jackie." His tone was tight.

Great, he was starting out on the offensive. What exactly had he been saying to Stuart?

He seemed to realise and he slumped. "So we just write it off as stress then?" He wasn't looking at her and hell, why was he leaving this all up to her. 

"I don't know." She honestly didn't, and he heard it in her voice and he looked at her again.

"Would it be so bad if we didn't?"

She felt her mouth open and close, unsure what to say. 

"Would it?" She went for instead, directing it back to him. 

The expression on his face softened and he glanced away quickly. "You're my best mate as well."

Oh God, they were just going to go round in circles weren't they? She sighed. 

"I don't want to fuck things up." He said.

"Neither do I." Now she was on edge. Great. She forced her fingers to unclench and sat up properly on the couch. She properly looked at him for a minute, on the verge of staring again before she turned her head back to the screen. He looked scared, more so than she'd ever seen him. 

One of them was going to have to make the first move. 

Would it be so bad? They already knew everything about each other, and had managed to survive working together for the last fifteen years. It wasn't as if they hadn't flirted before, or had some serious moments between them. She thought back to her Dad's words the other day and burst out laughing. 

"What?"

She managed to shake her head through the laughter to tell him it was nothing he had done, and the laughter might have been a touch hysterical. 

He was looking completely bewildered by the time she managed to calm herself. 

"Just something Dad said at Susie's party."

He looked questioningly at her. She shook her head. 

"Nothing much." She avoided that for the moment and looked at him. 

Trying for something with him wouldn't be difficult. Burke wouldn't be pleased at the idea of an office romance, but as long as they kept it mostly out of the office then he wouldn't kick up a fuss. Well, no more than he normally did anyway. 

They already knew the difficulties the job brought to a relationship, worked similar hours and they were on equal footing with their ranks now. 

It wasn't as if she wasn't attracted to him either, though she had shoved that thought to the back of her mind a long time ago. 

She could see his fist clenching as the silence carried on, though he wasn't making any move to rush her. 

The only things that had held her back before, he was working on. 

Okay, she could admit to the fact she was terrified. 

She took a deep breath. "You know that if you hurt me I'd kill you?" Just like that though, it seemed she'd made her decision.

It was his turn to laugh and she had to wait until he stopped. 

"Like you wouldn't the now?" He was still smiling. 

She shrugged. It was true enough and it wasn't as if he did know what buttons to press if she hurt him. 

"So," Robbie looked at her again. 

She paused. "Well, we don't write it off as just stress then."

"And?" He looked like he didn't know what to think. She was pretty sure she must have looked almost as unsure as him. 

"We see how things go."

He looked like he wanted to argue with her but she cut him off. "We've been stressed up to the eyeballs, and with everything still going on, I don't know if I can think about much more than that, Robbie." She almost pleaded and there was silence for another minute. 

"You always have to be the sensible one don't you?"

"Yeah, well,"

"One of us has to be," He finished. 

She smiled softly but he didn't say anything else. He relaxed back against the couch though and he held out his arm as she started to curl back up. 

She hesitated for a second then shifted over a bit and ducked under his arm, head resting on his shoulder. It felt easier now they had sort of come to a decision. 

She pressed play and the screen flickered to life. She felt herself drifting off, dimly aware of Robbie shifting slightly. She didn't fight it, for the first time in a week everything was comfortable and things were back on the right track. Anything else could wait until tomorrow.  
\--

**Epilogue:**

They were both sitting at their desks when Burke walked in for his first morning back at work. After everyone had welcomed him back, they gathered in his office for a catch up briefing, and things were going fine, even if she felt a little bit antsy around both Burke and Robbie. They'd been going to see him separately to keep things under wraps while they got their heads around their new relationship. 

Five minutes into the meeting proved that had been a good idea. 

Burke had been watching them the whole time and he groaned when there was a pause in the conversation. "Tell me you didn't."

She exchanged a look with Robbie and smiled. 

Burke groaned again. 

"If it helps, Sir, no one else has noticed."

"And we've not killed each other." Robbie added. 

"Yet." She amended and God help her, Robbie smiled like he was looking forward to the challenge. 

Burke rolled his eyes and sighed. "Well, are the pair of you going to stand about making eyes all day or are you going to carry on with what else I've missed?"

She couldn't help it and she had to turn her laughter into a cough at both of their expressions. She still wasn't entirely sure if everything was going to turn out okay but for the moment everything was more or less back to normal. 

She could live with that. 

The sex wasn't bad either.


End file.
